


5 times peter clung to tony

by parkrstark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Barbecue, Car Accidents, Clingy Peter Parker, Cold, Father's Day, Fluff, Gen, Happy is the older brother peter never had, Headaches & Migraines, Hostage Situations, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt Peter Parker, Hypothermia, I'll add more tags as i go, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Kidnapping, Missions Gone Wrong, Platonic Cuddling, Please ignore the fact i have so many other wips, Poison, Racing, Sick Peter Parker, Stop walking over colonel james rhodes and give him the respect he deserves, The author also has raging baby fever can you tell, Why is that tag not used more?, is that even a tag, my favorite kind, non consensual piggy back rides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-04-25 04:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14371257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkrstark/pseuds/parkrstark
Summary: ...and the one time tony clung to him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite headcanons is clingy!Peter and no one can take yhat away from me. Seriously, I dare you to try. 
> 
> Peter has lost so much and I think physical comfort is really big for him. I don't care who you are: may, ned, tony....he needs that comfort from you. 
> 
> So, this is basically a 5+1 fic with just a shit ton of clingy Peter with the usual parkrstark flair: fluff, whump, and angst.

Tony noticed the kid was much quieter than he was only an hour earlier. Sure, their fun at the science expo ended and they had a long car drive ahead of them, but they could make it into a good time. They could listen to some music and sing along or even talk about all the displays they saw. 

 

But, after a half hour drive, Peter was silent and looked a little pale as he looked down at his feet. This was a complete 360 from the kid earlier today. 

 

Tony knew there was a big convention in Connecticut where some of the smartest scientists from all over the east coast presented theories, experiments, and inventions. 

 

Peter had walked around the room looking from booth to booth. His smile only grew and grew as the night continued. He was bouncing off the walls like an overexcited puppy. 

 

It was a lot of work to follow-- _ chase _ \--the kid around, but seeing him so  _ happy _ was worth it. The kid had been looking at little down lately. It had been almost a year since the Vulture incident, but Peter still woke up from nightmares. Sometimes about the building. Sometimes about the beach. Sometimes about something new. 

 

May called him every night it happened, per his request. Of course, the kid didn't know Tony was keeping tabs on him. He was going to make sure it stayed that way. 

 

But now he wasn't closed in on himself like he became on his Bad Days; he was just quiet and looked a little pained. 

 

Tony frowned as he glanced over at him again. He was leaning back against the seat with his eyes squeezed shut. “Hey, Pete, you okay?” 

 

Peter snapped his eyes open. He say up a little straighter, trying his best to look okay even though it only makes it all worse. “Yeah, totally fine, Mr. Stark.” 

 

That's where he realized it. Well, Peter is always obvious when he lies, but ‘Mr. Stark’ sealed the envelope. It's been over a year since they've met. They had spent enough hours together tinkering in the lab together with little to no sleep that they were on a first name basis by now. Tony was “Tony”. Finally. 

 

Except, there were still times when Peter called him “Mr. Stark”: when he was being polite or when he was nervous. If Peter obviously hadn't had enough of eat but doesn't want to bother Tony, he'll say, “I'm fine, Mr. Stark.” Or when he's embarrassed, he'll mumble “Mr. Stark” with his red cheeks. 

 

“You're the crappiest liar that has ever lived on this world,” he stated dryly. 

 

Peter groaned and whatever was bothering him must be really bad if he gave in so easily. “Behind my eyes...there's just this constant pounding.” He pressed hard against his eyes like it would dull the pain. 

 

Tony grew concerned. “How long has it been hurting?” 

 

“Umm, half hour before we left?” He sad unsurely as he continued to rub at his eyes. 

 

“Why didn't you say something?” Tony asked, feeling a little frustrated. He had noticed that Peter died down towards the end of the night, but he assumed it was because he was tired. 

 

“Didn't wanna bother you. You were talkin’ to ‘portant people,” he mumbled under his breath, letting his true discomfort show. 

 

Tony rolled his eyes. He was talking to important people, sure, but it was all for Peter. He was walking to every scientist or professor or theorist to brag to them how the future of science was the 16-year-old kid next to him. 

 

He hated how Peter never wanted to bother anyone. He always thought he was a burden, even though he wasn't. He was the farthest thing from it. But he didn't understand. 

 

“Kid, you should have told me. This was supposed to be your night. We would have head back.” Tony wished he wasn't driving so he could give Peter his full attention. 

 

“S’fine.” 

 

“So, I guess that means no stopping at a greasy, rundown tower tonight then, huh?” Tony said in a light tone because that's what he did. He made jokes when jokes probably, no--definitely, shouldn't be made.

 

Peter didn't answer his question. He moaned lowly and turned in his seat so he was curled up slightly and facing Tony. “I'm just gonna take a nap.” 

 

“Okay, kiddo, sounds good. Feel better,” Tony said softly. He leaned forward and turned down the radio until it was barely a soft whisper. He knew that music was good to block out the loud noises outside the car. 

 

It took a few minutes, but soon, Peter was breathing heavier and his face didn't look so pinched. Tony hoped he wasn't in pain and could sleep the headache off. 

 

Tony had been looking forward to the trip home and of course, the diner stop at 3am, but now he just wanted Peter to sleep until they got back to New York. 

 

Unfortunately, that wish didn't come true. About 20 minutes after he fell asleep, he was suddenly jerking up straight as a board. “Tony!” He shouted, both hands flying to his mouth. 

 

Tony jumped in his seat, and hurried to get control of the car again. Once it was back in their lane and his heart wasn't racing so fast, he turned to Pete and said, “What's wrong?”

 

“Tony!” He shouted again. “Think I'm gonna be sick.” 

 

“Shit,” Tony immediately cursed. “Okay, buddy, hold on. I'll pull over. Hold on,” he encouraged like that would do anything to stop Peter from vomiting. 

 

“Tony,” he said again, though it sounded muffled from behind his hand. 

 

“Alright, just hold on,” he said, pulling the car over to the side of the road. The car right behind them honked loudly. Tony wanted to scream at the asshole when the sound made Peter flinch. 

 

The second the car was pulled over safely, Peter was yanking the car door and practically fell out on his knees. He didn't get car before he was throwing up everything he ate that day. And that was a lot. The kid ate 5 of everything he saw being offered at tables and booths. 

 

The kid may have been smiling when he scarfing down that fifth marshmallow treat, but he wasn't smiling when he brought it back up. 

 

Tony hurried to his side as Peter reached again and more came out, splashing to the ground. Tony scrunched his face at the sight of it and looked away. He was used to spending his younger years with nights full of this, so he this wasn't too bad, but it was still gross. 

 

He held Peter up by his shoulders just as he gave up his weight. He would have fallen right into his pile of sick if it hadn't been for Tony. He hushed him softly as he rubbed the wet trail off his chin with his sleeve. 

 

Peter mumbled, trying to hold himself up. “‘m sorry. ‘m fine.” 

 

“Peter, slow down. Give yourself a second.” Tony huffed. This kid was so damn self sacrificing, it was frustrating. 

 

“My dinner tasted way better going down than it did coming back up,” he said lamely when he caught his breathe. 

 

And because this kid was so much more like Tony than he wanted him on be like, of course he cracked jokes to try and make himself come across as okay. When he obviously wasn't okay. 

 

“Are you done?” Tony asked. 

 

Pete let the faux smile drop from his face. “For now? Feels like when you throw up and then you get that grace period before I starts all over again. Y’know?” 

 

Tony groaned. “Yes. I know.” He started to stand, lifting Peter up as he went. He held him in a bridal hold and despite the embarrassed look on his face, he didn't argue. “Let's try to get to a motel before it happens again.”

 

“Wha’? No, it's okay. I'll wait til we get home.” Peter let his head lay against Tony’s shoulder. 

 

“Do you know how stomachs work, Einstein? Because they don't care that you want to wait four hours until we get back to New York.” He grunted as he leaned over to sit the kid in the back seat. Peter’s eyes were already shut again as he curled into the soft seats. 

 

“Hmm? Four hours?” He rubbed at his eyes again and Tony knew the lamp posts along the street were shining brightly through the windows. He pulled off his jacket and laid it carefully over Peter’s head. Peter relaxed slightly. Tony thought he heard him mumble a thanks. 

 

“Yes, four hours. I'm not stopping every half hour for you to puke your brains out. We're going to a hotel or something so you can relax and puke your brains out in comfort.” Tony pulled the seat belt over him and made sure he was as safe as he was going to be laying down like this. “Get some sleep before I find one.” 

 

“‘kay,” Peter mumbled back and that's how Tony knew he was desperate to sleep and feel better. He wasn't being a stubborn brat. 

 

While Peter was comfortable, he hurried back into the front  seat and pulled back into the road. “FRIDAY, find the nearest hotel.” 

 

_ “There is a motel just the miles down this road,”  _ she replied from the dashboard.

 

“Reviews? Look good enough that we won't get bed bugs?”

 

_ “It seems to have very good reviews, sir. Shall I set it in your GPS?”  _

 

Tony nodded. “Yes, please.” She did and he started driving, following the dot on the screen. Now Tony just had to pray that Peter could wait just a few extra minutes. 

“Pete, c’mon, we're here. We've gotta get in before we lose our room.” Tony leaned over Peter and hated to wake him up. 

 

Peter tried pulling Tony’s jacket over his head more, but Tony pulled it away. “Go’wa’.”

 

“No,” Tony replied, “I can't carry you in there without it looking weird. So up on your feet.” He unbuckled him and leaned forward to help pull him up. Peter grumbled but let himself be dragged in. 

 

By the time they made it to the front desk, Peter was able to walk on his feet. He was still squinting at even the softest of lights. 

 

The woman at the front desk either didn't know or didn't care that he was Tony Stark. She checked them in and have them keys to the last room she had available. 

 

Thankfully, it was on the first hall just down the hall, so Tony was able to be the kid’s crutch as he walked down the hall. They stepped inside the small room and Tony flipped on a smaller light. He would shut it off as soon as he could. 

 

Peter immediately started moving towards to the closest bed. He crawled in slowly and climbed under one blanket without taking anything off. 

 

Tony follow him and pulled up the blanket so he could pull off his sneakers. “Christ, kid, you're a mess.” 

 

“I know,” Peter mumbled back with his head on he pillow. 

 

Once he had off his socks and shoes, he covered him with the blanket. Sleeping in his button down and dress pants couldn't be comfortable, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to get Peter to change.

 

“How's you head?” 

 

“On fire,” he replied instantly. 

 

“I'll get you some Advil,” Tony offered, even though he was hesitate to leave the side of the bed. 

 

“Don't bother. Doesn't work,” Peter whispered. 

 

Tony sighed. He had plenty of concoctions at the compound to try and mess around with them and make something that would work on Peter. But, he had none of that here. This was supposed to be a weekend for Peter. Not Spider-Man. 

 

“Can you try to fall asleep maybe?” Tony asked, desperate to get the kid any kind of relief. 

 

“Don't know,” he groaned and waited a moment before responding, “No. Hurts too much. All over.” Peter rolled in bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. 

 

Tony hurried to shut off the lights so the room was plunged into total darkness. Peter let out a small moan. “A little better?” 

 

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

 

Tony nodded his head, even though Peter couldn't see him. He took a seat on his bed just a few feet away. But, he didn't turn away from Peter. “Hey, Pete,” he said softly. 

 

Peter hummed. 

 

“Do you get migraines? Is that what this is.” 

 

Peter grunted. “Don't know. This happens sometimes when I get myself overexcited.” 

 

Tony hated that this was how the kid suffered from having fun. The was like he had to go through hell just for having away good time. “Okay. Just rest up. When you're feeling better, we're gonna look more into it and figure it out.” 

 

“Thanks,” Peter mumbled tiredly. 

 

“No problem, kiddo.” Tony looked at the lump in the bed and went quiet. The kid needed his sleep now. Even though, Tony knew he wasn't getting that anytime soon. He kept tossing and turning, groaning every so often. 

 

Tony laid down in his own bed, but he continued facing Peter so he could keep his eyes on him. After a few minutes of attempting to find a comfortable spot to lay down, Peter let out a soft whimper. “My head really hurts, Tony.” 

 

Tony’s heart broke. There was nothing he could do to fix this. All he could do was be by his side while the kid fought through it. “I know, kiddo. Is there anything I can do to help?” 

 

Peter hesitated. “No.” 

 

“Kid, stop being so Peter and tell me what's wrong. How can I help you?” Tony asked, going to sit up. 

 

“Sometimes...no, it's dumb,” he mumbled, not out of exhaustion but out of embarrassment. 

 

“It's not dumb if it'll help.”

 

“Sometimes, when it gets this bad, May scratches my head. Most times it helps enough for me to fall asleep.” His voice was low and Tony had to strain to ever hear it. 

“A scalp massage?” Tony asked. That's it? That could help ease the kid’s pain?

 

“Y-yeah. It's stupid. I know. Nevermind.” 

 

Tony didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and walked over to Peter’s bed. He leaned over him and ran his fingers through Peter’s sweaty curls. Peter let out a soft whine as Tony started moving his fingers. “How is that?” 

 

Peter couldn't say a word. He only nodded his head.  Tony smiled and pulled his hand out. Peter’s eyes opened and he looked confused. Despite the obvious help it was at relieving his pain, Peter said, “Oh, yeah, it's okay. That was good “

 

Tony rolled his eyes as he walked to the other side of the bed. “Shut up, Underoos. I'm going to sit so my legs don't fall asleep.” 

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah,” Tony said before climbing into bed next to the kid. He stayed on top of the blankets but got comfortable enough to know he could stay here for hours if that's what it took to get the kid to fall asleep. He threaded his fingers back through Peter’s hair and started to softly scratch his head. 

 

Peter relaxed again and let out a small noise that Tony wasn't sure how he made. “Feels better already. Thank you, Tony.” 

 

“No need for a thanks.”

 

“You don't have to stay here long--.” 

 

“Shut up and go to sleep.” 

 

And so he did. Before long, Peter was breathing heavy and snoring softly. His back was pressed against Tony’s side as he continued to comb his fingers through his hair. Even though he was finally sleeping, and Tony hoped it stayed that way, Tony found the action of playing with Peter’s soft curls comforting. 

 

He was also afraid of Peter waking up when the scratching stopped. He tested it anyway. His scratching slowly progressed to a stop and then he pulled his hand away. His hair was messy and the curls were wild, thanks to a long day and no time for Peter to gel them back down. 

 

But Peter showed no sign of knowing the soothing massage was ended. Tony started to shift carefully to get off the bed, but then Peter shifted. Tony held his breath.  _ Don't wake up. Don't wake up.  _ Tony chanted the words in his head over and over until Peter stopped moving. 

 

Of course, he stopped moving once he was turned around on his other side facing Tony. His hand latched onto Tony’s t-shirt and he pressed his head against his chest. Tony could feel the breath leave the kid’s lip as he used him as a pillow. Tony began to card his hands through Peter’s hair again, more because he liked how soft his hair felt than the original purpose to scratch his scalp.

 

Peter curled even closer into him when Tony started playing with his hair. Tony had a feeling the kids wasn't letting go anytime soon.

 

It shouldn't have surprised him, really. Not after a few months back during the summer when Ned and Peter slept over at the compound for a weekend. 

  
  


_ Tony had been asleep when FRIDAY woke him up with a loud, “Boss, Peter is having a nightmare.” That was all Tony had needed to hear before he was rushing out of bed and to the kid’s room.  _

 

_ When he threw open the door, the sight in front of him made him freeze. Peter was sleeping. Ned was there too, rubbing Peter’s back and whispering softly. Peter was wrapped around him like a koala bear.  _

 

_ Ned had looked up and given Tony an embarrassed smile. “He doesn't like to be alone. He always does this when I share a bed with him. Something to do with his anxiety of people leaving, I think. They can't leave when he's got them in a grip like this.”  _

 

_ Tony looked at Peter again and saw how he was holding into Ned like his life depended on it. It hurt to see him like this...so afraid of losing the people he loved.  _

 

_ After that night, Tony had noticed it more. When Peter became upset or fidgety, he liked to be close to people. May could sense this and would always hold his cheeks and kiss the top of his head. When he walked around with Ned, he would hold onto his sleeve or slip his finger through his belt loop. Even with Tony, he would sometimes brush their arms together when they were working side by side in the workshop.  _

  
  


It was how Peter kept his anxiety at bay, Tony realized. Tony thought it was adorable.

 

If he thought about it any longer, he'd think you much about how a 16-year-old kid shouldn't need ways to calm down anxiety and nightmares. Especially about losing loved one after loved one.

 

And if all Tony has to do to keep the kid happy was play with curls and be a human teddy bear for him to cuddle against, then Tony was more than willing to lay here all night. 

 

This was much better than greasy diner food anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Migraines are horrible. I hate them. This chapter was inspired by when I went to a Supernatural con a few years ago and was waiting in line to get Misha's autograph when I started getting my first migraine. I was in so much agony. You can't even sleep it off. Like you lay in bed, still in agony. I'm fairly certain that I only fall asleep with a migraine because the pain knocks me out cold.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, kat. Stop re-reading this piece of crap chapter xo

“You know I have like 5 gallons in the freezer at the compound, right? And those are just  _your_ flavors,” Tony said as they walked into a small bodega. Usually, Peter dragged him into Delmar’s, but this was a new one.

 

“This place has the best ice cream in Queens. We need ice cream  _now._ ” Peter tugged on his wrist to pull him inside.

 

Once in the shop, Tony looked around nervously. He didn't have anything to really disguise himself. Thankfully, he had a pair of shades on because the sun was hot out today. They were nearing summer and it was already a brutal 89° in New York.

 

He had a t-shirt on and board shorts. The kid was wearing a similar outfit with his backpack slung over his shoulders. The humidity was curling his hair, despite how much he probably tried to smooth them out throughout the day.

 

So, when Peter asked him if they could stop for ice cream before heading to the compound, Tony said yes.

 

“What flavor are you going to get?” Peter asked him, his face already pressed up against the glass counter where all the ice cream was.

 

“I dunno. Chocolate?” He shrugged his shoulders, not really looking at the ice cream. He was looking around the small shop. It looked old and worn down, but those seemed to be Peter’s favorite places in Queens.

 

“I like Play-Doh,” Peter said. “But I also like--.”

 

Before Peter could mention his other flavor or Tony could make a face at  _Play-Doh_ ice cream, a worker came from the back. He looked...tired...as he said, “I'm sorry, guys, we're closed for the day.”

 

“Oh?” Tony said, furrowing his brow.

 

“I apologize. We'll be open again tomorrow. We're having some issues with the machines in the back, so we have to close down.” He nodded once before turning back around.

 

Peter turned around; his eyes were wide. “Mr. Stark, something isn't right.” He didn't even give Tony a second to follow him before he was jumping the counter and running to the back.

 

Tony cursed under his breath as he followed him. If they really were just having problems with their machines, how was Tony supposed to explain this? “Peter!” He said, landing on the ground when Peter was already in the back.

 

Peter was already running into the open walk in freezer. “Mr. Porter?” He said with a loud voice.

 

“Kid,” Tony said as he followed him inside, shivering at the cold temperature inside the small room. “Why would he be in the freezer?”

 

“Something’s wrong,” Peter said, looking behind shelves of ice cream.

 

“Kid, let's just--.”

  


The freezer door slammed shut behind them.

  


Tony slowly turned around to stare at the now shut door. The door that is blocking their only way out. Tony started walking to it. “No, no, no, no.” He grabbed the door handle and tried to move it. It didn't budge.

 

“Mr. Stark?” He heard the kid say worriedly behind him.

 

“Don't worry, Pete,” Tony said, trying to keep his voice calm. “I'm gonna get us out of here.” He jerked harder on the door. He grunted and slammed his weight behind his shoulder against the door.

 

The sound rang through the small room. Okay. Now Tony was starting to panic.

 

“It's locked?” Peter asked, coming up next to him. Tony nodded and Peter said, “Let him try. I'll use my strength.”

Tony stepped aside to let Peter have space. He saw him muster all his strength before slamming himself against the door. He put a dent in the door. “Ow,” he moaned.

 

Tony winced, already knowing that was going to bruise in a few hours. He wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulder and led him away from the door. “Okay, kid, let's not do that again.”

 

“I-I thought, I don't understand. My spidey senses told me the danger was over here.” Peter’s eyes were wide and Tony could see the panic start to sink in.

 

They had a long time ahead of them trapped in here. He couldn't let the kid freak out within the first 5 minutes. “Hey, hey, it's okay, kiddo. Go sit down and I'll get us out of here.”

 

Peter looked at him dubiously. “How?”

 

He pulled out his StarkPhone. “Tada.”

 

The kid’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Okay. Good. I'm just gonna go...look for another way out, just in case.”

 

Tony watched the kid start to inspect the walls. Hopefully, that would distract him long enough until someone realized they were trapped inside.

 

Looking down at his phone, their day only got worse. He had no reception.

 

Shit.

  


“We need to prepare for the worst,” he said, bringing Peter’s attention back to him. There was no sugar coating this for Peter. He was 15-years-old. He was a superhero. He deserved to know what they were dealing with.

 

“What?” Peter said, turning around.

 

“My phone has no bars--remind me to work on getting reception  _everywhere_ in the next StarkPhone--so we're going to have to wait this out.” Tony started looking around the room.

 

“How are we going to do that? It's not negative degrees in here.” Peter was already rubbing his arms.

 

Of course, today was the day Tony chose not to wear his three piece suit. He could have draped his jacket over the kids shoulders.

 

“We need to take inventory. See what he have.” Tony looked over at Peter and noticed the backpack. “Please tell me you have  _something_ useful in there, boy scout.”

 

Peter slipped the bag off his shoulders and unzipped it quickly. He reached his hand in and pulled out a rolled up sweatshirt. “I have a hoodie.”

 

“Good,” Tony said, “put it on.”

 

“But what about you?” He hesitated.

 

“I'm fine.”

 

“But--.”

 

“Peter.”

 

“We'll take turns, okay? I'll have it and then when you start getting really cold, I'll give it to you.” Peter started to pull his arms into the sleeves.

 

Tony nodded his head in agreement because as long as the kid put it on, he didn't care what promise he had to break. While he was getting the extra layer on, Tony turned around looking for anything else.

 

There were nothing but shelves, ice cream, and a few broken cardboard boxes. He grabbed the boxes and pulled them apart to lay on the ground. “Sitting on this is better than sitting on metal ground.”

 

“Metal is a good conductor.”

 

“Exactly, kiddie. Now sit your butt down and conserve your energy.”

 

Peter, again, didn't listen. “You need to too.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Tony said, “I'm fine, Peter--.”

 

“I'm not sitting unless you do.”

 

Damn kids. They never wanted to listen. Especially when their health depended on it. “Fine.” He came over and sat down on the cardboard. “Sit your ass down now.”

 

Peter smiled and sat down next to him.

  


Well, there were worse people to be locked in a freezer with.

 

\--

 

Peter was the first one to start shivering.

 

Tony was sitting next to him and heard the chattering of his teeth. He tried to keep it quiet, but Tony was waiting for it.

 

It came earlier than expected, but that didn't matter. All that matter was keeping him warm.

 

Tony put his hands on Peter’s arms and started to rub him. “Hey, buddy, feeling a little cold?”

 

Peter just looked at him like,  _are you serious?_

 

“I really didn't think you'd be shivering already,” Tony admitted as he thought about all the times in the last few months when Peter complained about being cold. During the winter, he wore several layers under his sweaters and buried himself under many blankets on movie nights.

 

“S-spiders can't thermo-thermoregulate,” Peter whispered, his words getting jumbled because of his chattering teeth.

 

Spiders couldn’t thermoregulate. Honestly, Tony didn't know much about spiders. He knew some basics, but he’d never spent hours just researching spiders. He wished he'd done it now.

 

He should have known that something like this would come up. When Peter’s spider side started giving him trouble.

 

This kid obviously knew. He probably knew that him getting so cold wasn't normal. So, he researched it and came up with the thermoregulation issue. He just never told Tony.

 

“Why didn't you tell me?” Tony asked, feeling the panic sink in. He could have been prepared for this. “I could have helped you, made  _something_ that could fix your body temp.”

 

Peter shrugged his shoulders, his left one jerking after a particularly violent shiver. “S-some spider stuff is embarrassing…”

 

“I don't care, Peter. I don't care if it's the most humiliating thing you ever go through: tell me if the spider bite is making something dangerous for you.” He gestured to Peter’s shivering frame. “You see this? This is obviously dangerous.”

 

“‘m sorry,” he mumbled.

 

“No, no. We're not going on focus on that now. We're going to focus on surviving now. I need to keep your eyes open and stay awake until help gets here.” Tony pulled the kid against his side, hoping to share some of his heat.

 

“You think help is coming?” Peter asked.

 

“Hope so,” Tony mumbled, staring at the locked door. “Maybe someone else noticed something weird about this place and called the cops.”

 

“P-probably a robbery,” Peter said. “Someone was probably in the back and was trying get Mr. Porter to get rid of us.”

 

“Figure that out on your own, Castle?” Tony hoped the kid was at least a bit distracted.

 

“I hope Mr. Porter is okay,” was all he said.

 

“I'm sure he's fine. He probably already called the police and they're on their way here.” Tony was trying to keep up his optimism for both him and the kid.

 

“How will they know to look in here?”

 

“My car is still parked out front. When they see no customers inside, hopefully, they'll keep looking. Or maybe Mr. Porter knows we're stuck.” Tony was steadily rubbing Peter’s arm now with him nestled against his side. He hoped the hoodie was doing something to help with the cold.

 

Tony was starting to feel some parts for him grow numb. He hoped help was on its way. And soon.

 

\--

 

When Tony started to shiver, Peter was already incoherent. He hadn't said a word in the last few minutes, but Tony knew he was still awake by the rapid rising and falling of his chest.

 

Tony wasn't worried until he started to mumble under his breath. “No..no...too cold!” It would have been a yell if his voice wasn't so raw.

 

“Hey, Pete, calm down. It's okay. You're gonna be warm real soon.” Lies. Tony knew he was lying. But he couldn't stop. “I promise. Just hang in there for a little while longer.”

 

Peter didn't hear him. He just shook his head. “No! Don't drop me! Can’t swim. Gonna get stuck.” He started to claw at his face as his breathing got so much worse. He was barely taking in any oxygen.

 

“Kiddo, shh, come on.” Tony took his hands in his, hating how it felt like he was holding ice cubes.

 

“Don't wanna drown. Too cold.” He sounded close to crying.

 

And then it all clicked. The night that Tony rescued Peter from drowning in that freezing lake. He had been tangled up in his parachute, unable to get to the surface. He was thrashing and struggling until Tony swooped in and pulled him out.

 

Except now, there was no water to pull him out of. There was no way for Tony to save him. And there was no heater in a suit to warm him up.

 

Tony had nothing but a panicking kid, a hoodie, broken cardboard, a backpack full of books, and shelves lined with ice cream.

 

So he did the thing he did best: make do with what he had.

 

His kid may have been slowly losing his mind but Tony still had his. He could still calm him down.

 

“Hey, Pete, it's okay. The Vulture isn't here. There's no cold water. It's just you and me. Nobody else,” Tony whispered close to his ear.

 

Peter didn't respond right away. It took several soft ‘shhh’s from Tony to calm the kid down enough that he wasn't hyperventilating. (They didn't have oxygen to spare in here.)

 

“Don’ let me go, Tony.”

 

At least he was making sense. Sort of. “I've got you. I'm not letting go.”

 

“Don't wanna fall.”

 

“You're not going to. I'll catch you. I'll always catch you, Peter.” Tony tightened his hold on him. He wished he could take all of his fear away.

 

He let out one more whimper before he stopped. He stopped whimpering. He stopped panting. He stopped shivering.

 

Tony felt his heart skipped a beat. “Peter,” he said suddenly shaking Peter. “Kid, wake up.”

 

Peter grunted. “Shhh. Got me.”

 

“I know I've got you, kid. But that doesn't mean you can fall asleep. You won't wake up.” Tony tried to look down so he could see if his eyes were opened or closed.

 

“M’so sleepy.” His head was already drooping again.

 

Tony cringed and reminded himself to apologize to Peter later as he slapped his face. Peter whined as he straightened up. “Wake up. Stay awake.”

 

He face was cold. Too cold. Peter wasn't going to make it unless someone came soon. Someone had to come. Tony pulled him closer and whispered into his freezing curls, “Hang in there, kiddo. Hang in there.”

 

He had to hang in there…

 

\--

 

No one was coming.

 

Well, no one was coming in time.

 

This was it…he was dying because he was too cold. He wasn't going down in a fight blazing guns and glory. He wasn't sacrificing himself to save anyone. He wasn't defeating an evil villain.

 

He was locked in a freaking freezer. Slowly freezing to death.

 

That's exactly how he wanted Iron Man to be remembered: “Billionaire Superhero Dies in a Ice Cream Freezer.”

 

The kid, though...he didn't deserve this. He just wanted to show Tony the best ice cream cones in Queens. (“Seriously, Mr. Stark, they pack the ice cream deep in the cone!”)

 

But now was he barely conscious being held against Tony’s chest. Every so often his head would tilt forward but he would either jerk it back up or Tony would fix it. He had tried keeping him awake, but how was he supposed to keep the kid awake when he was seconds from falling asleep himself?

 

He felt his grip loosening on Peter. He could barely move his fingers. He didn't want the kid to fall put of his arms. If they were going down, Tony was holding the kid until they were gone.

 

“H-hey, kid,” Tony said, shaking his shoulder.

 

Peter barely even grunted.

 

“Take the jacket off for a second. I need it.”

 

Somehow this got him awake enough to sit up (even though his weight was all on Tony). “Cold? Your turn.” He mumbled, his words barely making any sense as he started pulling out of the sweatshirt.

 

Tony helped him out without hurting him and hurried to put his own arms thorough it. He had like 40% control of his limbs right now, but he needed to get Peter back in this sweatshirt.

 

He pulled himself into it, thankful that it was big on Peter. Once he had his arms in the sleeves, he tugged on the kid’s arm. “Come here, kiddo.” The kid was too confused to understand the simple order. “Hug me. Put your arms under my t-shirt. Skin to skin contact.”

 

Peter frowned but leaned forward and slipped his arms under Tony’s t-shirt as he wrapped his arms around him. Tony hissed at how Peter’s freezing cold fingers burned his skin. The kid didn't seem to notice. All he knew was that Tony was warm-- or at least warmer than him.

 

“That's it, k-kiddo,” Tony encouraged as he pulled him closer.

 

Pete gave in and collapsed. He let out a soft whine and curled into Tony. He pressed himself against his chest and stuck his cold face in the crook of his neck. Tony would complain if it wasn't obviously helping the kid feel just a little warmer.

 

Once Peter was settled and squeezing him tight, Tony pulled the hoodie around Peter and zipped it so it was around them both. Hopefully, that would keep some heat in.

 

But more importantly, it kept Peter in his arms, close to his side. He wasn't going anywhere.

 

The kid barely noticed the jacket around him as he clutched to Tony. Tony could feel the kid’s frozen nose move softly against his neck. He was mumbling something Tony couldn't hear.

 

Tony rubbed the back of his head, hating how his once soft curls were frozen. “Shh, Peter, I've got you. I've got you.”

 

Then his world went black.

 

\---

 

Voices.

 

Cold.

  


Lights.

  


Cold.

  


Shouting.

 

Cold.

  
  


Numb.

 

Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

 

_Stop._

  
  


He didn't want to remember the cold. He didn't want to be here anymore.

 

There were more voice. Loud. Strong. Annoying. There were people tugging him, poking him, waking him. He hated it. Let him sleep.

 

The kid’s hold around him was lax. He was asleep. Or maybe gone...if he was, Tony wanted to go too.

 

But then the kid was actually gone. Someone was pulling him away.

 

Tony felt his heart race and he wanted to yell and scream and fight.

But he couldn't move. His eyes stayed shut and his arms wouldn't lift.

 

He wanted his kid.

_Give me my kid!_

  


That was what got him to open his eyes finally. Not the rough shoving everyone seemed to be doing to him. He didn't care what they did to him. He needed Peter.

 

He wasn't supposed to let go of Peter. The jacket was supposed to keep him there. Even after Peter lost the strength to hold him.

 

He blinked his eyes open and they shut immediately. He grunted as he felt himself being strapped down.

_What was happening?_

 

Then there was a comforting voice. It was familiar. He knew this voice.

 

“Tony, it's okay. You're okay.”

 

That voice sounded so familiar. Tony had to know who it was. He blinked his eyes open and they stayed open just long enough to catch a glimpse of the man holding his hand. It took a long time to pull a name out of his brain. It was Rhodey. Colonel James Rhodes. His best friend.

 

“R…” was the best he could say.

 

“Shh, it's okay.” His friend said, squeezing his hand. “You're okay.

 

Okay? Rhodey was crazy if he thought Tony was okay.

 

Tony was far from okay. He couldn't move. He couldn't feel his fingers. His mouth wouldn't work. His eyes couldn't even stay open a few seconds. He hurt. Someone took his kid.

_He was not okay._

 

“Pe…” he managed to say. “Pe...er.”

 

“Pete’s fine, buddy. You need to relax.”

 

Tony tried shaking his head. He wasn't sure if he succeeded. He needed Peter. He couldn't let him fall. He had to catch him. Peter needed him!

Damn these fucking lips that wouldn't just fucking listen and tell Rhodey. Rhodey needed to give him Peter. He needed Peter. He needed--.

 

“Hey, Tony, calm down.” A thumb wiped the corner of his eyes. But he couldn't be crying. The tears would freeze before they even left his eyes.

 

Tony tried again. “Pe...ki’. My...kid.” That took all his strength and a few long moments to get out.

 

“Peter is fine. They’ve got him in front of us and they're going to put him in the ambulance. Look: Happy is right next to him.”

 

Willing his eyes to open one last time, Tony pried them open to slits. But it was enough to see Happy standing next to a stretcher as they lifted it into the back of an ambulance.

 

When they had the stretcher angeled, Tony saw Peter’s face. He looked...peaceful. Despite the hustle and bustling around him, he was sleeping soundly through it all. Tony was glad he wasn't woken up for this bullshit.

 

But he was safe. He was being watched by Happy. He was okay.

He was fine. Peter was okay.

 

Tony’s world went black again.

 

\--

 

Tony opened his eyes again and it was much easier to keep them open. The first thing he noticed was the warmth. He was warm. He was very warm.

 

And Peter wasn't against his chest.

There was no cold nose in his neck or freezing fingers digging into his back.

 

“Peter…” He croaked, trying to sit up. Maybe the kid could hear him. Maybe.

 

But a hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back. “Lay down, Tony. Jesus, please don't pull out any of these IVs.”

 

Tony’s eyes snapped to where Rhodey was sitting in a chair by his bed. “Rhodey? What happened?”

 

Rhodey frowned and hesitated as he studied Tony silently. Then, he said, “You picked up Peter from school but never came back. You weren't answering your phone. Neither was the kid.” Tony’s heart raced at the mention of Peter. “We found your car on the street and then went inside the ice cream place. Turns out they were robbed.”

 

Robbery. The kid nailed it.

 

“Honestly? We were ready for a kidnapping situation until FDNY got the freezer open. They were looking for clues...instead we saw you and the kid frozen in the corner.” Rhodey’s face seemed to pale.

 

“We were going for ice cream. The kid noticed something was wrong. We got trapped in the freezer,” Tony explained.

 

“That...man, that was terrifying.  _Please_ don't do that again. I never want to see you or Peter that blue again.” Rhodey shivered.

 

“That bad?” Tony winced.

 

“You can tell me later when you see the picture for yourself.”

 

“Picture? What?”

 

Rhodey huffed in annoyance. “Someone leaked a picture from when the fire department and police first found you. There was also a lot of paparazzi waiting when they wheeled you out.”

 

“How did they know I was there?”

 

“When Tony Stark’s car is in the same spot for hours, it tends to draw a crowd.”

 

“Oh.” Tony paused and asked, “How long were we in there?”

 

“Little more than 4 hours.”

 

“Shit.” Tony’s panic began to rise again. “ Where's Peter? Is he okay?”

 

Rhodey nodded his head to the other side of the room. Tony quickly turned his gaze and saw Peter laying in bed. He was still asleep, but he looked much better than he did in that freezer. Much better.

 

His lips were no longer blue. The frost was gone from his hair and eyelashes. He wasn't as white as a ghost. He wasn't shivering.

He looked okay. Getting better.

 

“Is he okay?” Tony repeated because seeing him didn't answer his question.

 

“He's fine. We got him just in time, both of you, but mostly him. He was hanging on by his last finger, Tones. His body was shutting down. Honestly, he's lucky he's still got all his fingers and toes.” Rhodey was being honest. Tony appreciated the honesty.

 

“Fuck.” Tony fell back against his pillow and squeezed his eyes shut. All because he had been so careless. He promised himself the second he was better, he was going to run tests on Peter. He wanted to know  _everything_ he spider bite changed about him.

 

“He's going to be fine. He's still getting warmed up. He's got like 3 heated blankets and heating packs all over. They just took him off the warm oxygen a half hour ago.” Rhodey didn't seem too worried as he explained Peter’s condition. In fact, he looked relieved.  But Peter still looked like shit...Tony didn't want to see just how bad the kid looked when they first rescued him.

 

“How much longer till he wakes up?” Tony asked, staring back at the kid.  _He was alive. They made it._

 

“Doctors can’t tell. Hopefully, soon. His aunt is at work and was going to drop everything and come, but I told her not to rush.” He jerked his head again to Peter’s side. “He's got his own little Mama Bear while Real Mom is working.”

 

Tony looked again and focused on the man snoring in the seat next to Peter’s bed. Happy was lounged in one chair while his feet were kicked up on another. A fairly big teddy bear sat in his lap.

 

“What's with the stuffie? The kid’s 16.” Tony raised his eyebrows. Not that Peter couldn't have a stuffed animal at this age if he really wanted it, but that wasn't something he'd imagine Happy buying Peter.

 

“Oh,” Rhodey said with a laugh. “That was a joke. Kinda. It's a heating bag meant for kids. They hug it and get warm. Happy picked it up for the kid and put it in the kid’s arms while he was still sleeping. Thought it was hilarious when Peter actually pulled the thing close to his chest.”

 

Tony’s heart warmed at the thought. He wished he was awake to see it.

 

“Don't worry: he took a picture.” Rhodey rolled his eyes. “I also yelled at him for laughing at the boy with hypothermia. Of course, the kid is going to cuddle something giving him heat. Especially in his sleep.”

 

“I'll conspire with Pete to get back at Happy when he wakes up.”

 

“Good. He deserves it. Maybe stick ice cubes down his pants and see what he would do to get warm.” Rhodey was laughing.

 

“Yeah…” Tony trailed off, not really in the mood to laugh. “Hey, Rhodey.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Thanks for coming to get us. And watching out for the kid.”

 

Rhodey smiled softly. “Well, if you're too busy making sure the kid doesn't fall, someone better be ready to catch your ass.” He shrugged his shoulders, as if Rhodey’s devotion to him was nothing. “I'm glad it's me.”

 

“Yeah. Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, please don't take this too seriously (medically wise). You're supposed to really take off your clothes and have direct skin to skim contact to keep warm. But I thought that would excite the starkers too much.  
> And I'm not sure how long you can survive in the cold like that or the stages of hypothermia detailed or a lot about recocery. 
> 
> Basically I did the best research i could and ask you not to use ANY OF my writing as medical reference/advice. 
> 
> I hope you still enjoyed it!! Please leave your thoughts below.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really happy with this chapter...hopefully, you like it.
> 
> (It was written on my phone, so look out for really weird typos that I missed)

Tony was in a meeting when it happened. A really boring but important meeting. He would rather be anywhere else than here. He was praying for anything to end this thing early. 

 

He regretted his thoughts the moment Happy came rushing inside the meeting room. 

 

Tony knew something was wrong when he saw how panicked and worried he looked. He never interrupted the meetings Pepper stressed about. 

 

“Um, can we help you? We're in the middle of some--.” 

 

Despite the man's authority over Happy, his friend didn't hesitate to cut him off. “Boss, we need you out here. Now.”

 

Tony was on his feet before Happy finished the sentence. 

 

One of the men at the table was angry and stood up too. “Don't think about leaving this room, Stark. No more of your excuses.” 

 

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me, gentlemen, I have an emergency to take care of.” 

 

“Oh, really? What is this emergency? Or did you two not think that part of the plan through?” The man crossed his arms over his chest. 

 

“Tony,” Happy said like he didn't hear the other man at all. His wide and worried eyes never left his face. “It's the kid.” 

 

That was all he needed to hear before he was rushing out of the room, not caring about anything the men he left behind were screaming at him. “What's wrong? Was he patrolling? Did the suit malfunction? What--?”

 

“No. Tony, it's Peter.” Tony frowned, not sure what Happy meant by that. “Not Spider-Man.” 

 

“Aren't they the same person?” 

 

“Just...just come in and watch this. You need to see what's going on…” 

 

Now that Tony was close to him, he noticed how pale Happy looked. His eyes were wide and haunted. “Happy...what's wrong?”

 

“I can’t...come here.” Happy jerked his head towards a small room. 

 

Tony went inside and saw Rhodey and Steve both standing close to the television that was playing some bad action movie it looked like. He wasn't sure why he was taken out of his meeting to watch a movie. 

 

But before Tony could ask what the hell was going on, he heard his name on the television. Tony took a step forward trying to get a good look at the screen. There were two big men wearing dark clothes and ski masks with someone kneeling between them. That person had a black sack over their head.

 

This was way too similar to Afghanistan. 

 

“What the hell is this?” Tony demanded, pointing to screen. He looked from Steve to Rhodey. They both looked just as terrified as Happy. Tony was growing scared. 

 

“This feed just took over every station in America like 3 minutes ago,” was all Rhodey said. There was more he was hiding Tony knew. 

 

“Happy said it was something about Peter.” He looked around the room. “Where's Peter?” 

 

“Tony…” Steve took a step closer to him. “We can't be sure. But he mentioned Peter.” 

 

Tony straightened. “Who's he?” Steve didn't answer, but the room went silent and he heard the man on the television speaking. 

 

“--everything! Ever since you were a child, it was all handed to you on a silver platter while the rest of us bust our asses off to barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. How is that fair? Tell me.” His face was red and his voice was close to yelling. 

 

The person kneeling beside him flinched.

 

“Why is it always so  _ fucking easy _ for you? You don't give a shit about anything that doesn't involve you, Tony Stark. There are people trying to tell us you've changed or whatever, but I don't buy it. Not when you  _ murder  _ hundreds of people every time you go out to ‘save the day’.” 

 

“Have we gotten their location yet?” Steve asked behind Rhodey. 

 

“Not yet.” 

 

Tony ignored them. He couldn't listen to them while these assholes had someone kidnapped between them and he still had no idea what this had to do it has Peter. Because that couldn't be him. No.

 

“Tell me, Stark, do you know what it feels like to lose someone?” The man growled. Tony narrowed his eyes; of course, he knew what it felt like.”Do you know what it feels like to hear your child,  _ your baby,  _ screaming for you. But you're not quick enough to save them?” 

 

There was a hand on his shoulder. “Don't listen to this asshole, Tony,” Happy whispered  

 

“Well, you're about to find out.” 

 

Tony froze.  _ What the fuck was that supposed to mean?  _

 

Then they ripped the bag off the person head and he got his answer.

 

There was Peter staring back at him with wide terrified eyes.

 

\--

 

_ then… _

 

“I'm s-so cold,” Peter whined from his bed. 

 

Tony rolled his head over on the pillow to stare at Peter. “Yeah, kid, hypothermia will do that to you. Cuddle your bear and try to get some sleep.” 

 

Peter grunted and pulled the bear closer to his chest. The kid had whined about the bear being embarrassing but he stopped after he realized how much the heat actually helped him. 

 

There was still a chill in his bones. The doctors said he would still feel cold for a few days after. Tony felt cold himself but not as bad as Peter. He had mild hypothermia while Peter had it three times worse. 

 

The kid was a trooper. He barely said a word about the complications from the freezer. When it was actually bothering him, he lied in bed with his lips sealed. 

 

Times, like right now, when he was bored from being in bed, he whined just to make the time pass. It had only been a day since they were pulled out of there. 

 

Tony had done his best to keep the news off. He didn't want to see the picture anymore, let alone let Peter see it. They went through it, so the picture of them both unconscious and blue wasn't necessary. 

 

Tony closed his eyes and he could still see the frost on Peter’s face and feel the burning chill of his skin: his nose pressed into his neck and his fingers clinging to his back as his strength slowly lessened. His breathing slowly started to slow down until they were small puffs of air and-- 

 

“Mr. Stark, he's not even warm anymore,” Peter's voice broke through his thoughts. 

 

Maybe he wasn't being annoying to be annoying. Maybe he was being annoying to keep his thoughts away from going to someplace he didn't want them to. 

 

“You have a call button for a reason.” Tony raised his eyebrows as he looked at the kid’s pout. “Call your nurse so she can stick your teddy back in the microwave and stop your whining.” 

 

“A) I'm not whining, B) he doesn't go in the microwave; the heating back inside him does,” Peter said, fixing his hold on the bear. 

 

“I hope you know when you fall asleep, I'm taking that bear and shoving it so far up Happy’s ass, he's gonna be shitting stuffing for weeks.” 

 

“Touch my bear and you die.” 

 

Tony furrowed his brow. “Oh, yeah, you look really scary. Look at you with your bedhead and teddy bear. I'm trembling.” 

 

“I'm terrifying. You better watch out. Teddy and I will take you on.” Peter moved the bear’s arms so it looked like he was doing karate. 

 

Tony stared at him for a moment before letting out a small laugh. “You're such a weirdo.” 

 

Peter gave him a cheeky smile. “Thanks for noticing.” 

 

“If I didn't get in trouble last time, I would chuck a pillow right at your face.” Tony grunted, closing his eyes. Maybe Peter was like a toddler and would fall asleep if he saw Tony fall asleep. 

  
  


In the end, Tony was the one that fell asleep. 

When he opened his eyes again, he knew he had napped for at least an hour. 

 

He heard voices that weren't familiar talking loudly. And they kept mentioning his name. He didn't open his eyes until he heard Peter's name said. 

 

Opening his eyes, he saw the television in their room on showing the news channel. The picture of Peter being pulled from Tony's arms was on screen. 

 

_ “We've gotten word from an insider that this boy is 16-year-old Peter Parker. We've come to believe that this is the same boy that has been seen around with Tony Stark.”  _

 

“Why are you watching that crap, kid?” 

 

Peter turned his wide eyes to Tony. “They know my name, Mr. Stark.”

 

“Hey, don't worry about that, kiddo. They won't bother you. I'll make sure of that. You trust me?” 

 

“Of course, I do,” Peter said instantly. 

 

“Then, don't worry. Everything will be fine.” 

 

\--

 

_ now… _

 

Tony let him down…

They got him. They did exactly what Tony promised he wouldn't let them do. 

 

His mouth was duct taped shut and his hair was messy from the sack. When he could see again, he whipped his head around trying to access his situation. 

 

His eyes widened even more as he looked at the big men behind him and then back to the camera. He jerked his arms, no doubt trying to get free or see how tight he was being held. 

 

“You're about to know what it's like to hear your child  _ scream _ and you will be useless. Nothing you do will save him. He will die  _ crying for you.”  _ The man grabbed Peter's curls and yanked his head back. He quickly ripped the tape off his face.

 

Peter gasped in pain and the moment he could, he was shouting, “Mr. Stark saves people's lives, asshole! He's a hero! Without him, so many more people would be dead and--.” 

 

The other man that hadn't spoken a word drove the button of his gun into the back of Peter’s head. Without his hands for balance, he fell over. The other one laughed as he hauled Peter back up by his hair. “Careful there, buddy.” 

 

“He's going to kill you,” Peter warned through clenched teeth. 

 

“I'd like to see Daddy Stark try. He's going to be too late.” He started dragging Peter away from the camera and the other one picked up the video to change the position. 

That's when they figured out where Peter was. He was on a plane and the door to the plane was open. 

 

They continued to drag him to the door and Peter seemed to realize what they were doing just a second after Tony did. He kicked and shoved the hands on him, but he didn't use his strength. He didn't dare to when he was on video. 

 

“No, no, no!” Peter shouted, trying to slow them down. He grabbed onto the man's hands. “Please, don't do this.” 

 

The man shoved Peter so he was leaning out of the plane, but his hand remained on the neck of his shirt and Peter held tightly to the man's arm. He looked back to the camera and said, “I buried my baby. No father should have to bury their child. I hope you find him a nice casket.” 

 

And then he threw Peter. 

The feed went black after they heard the kids terrifies scream. 

 

Tony went into action immediately. He didn't have his suit or his web shooters. The kid was still in his mid-town sweater. It was barely after three. He was taken right from school. 

 

He didn't have his suit but he did have his watch. The emergency one that Tony gave him. He saw it on his wrist in the video. 

 

His suit was already deployed and encasing him. “I'm gonna get my kid.” 

 

“Tony, you can't just search the sky--.” 

 

“Find that fucking plane. I'm getting Peter,” he yelled as he flew through the window, glass went raining down around him. 

 

“Track his watch, FRIDAY.” He kicked the suit into the highest speed as Peter's location came across his HUD display. 

 

“Peter is falling at a speed that will bring him to the ground in approximately 1 minute and 12 seconds.” 

 

“Not on my watch.” He kept flying until he was getting closer to the dot. Peter was right by the tower. These assholes knew where to drop him. He'd fall right by the tower. 

  
  


30 seconds later and he was so close. He could see Peter. He was above him while Peter was falling. He'd went up too high. He quickly started his descent downwards. 

 

He got close enough to see him and he projected his voice through the suit. “Peter! Peter!” He yelled, hoping to kid would open his eyes. 

 

At the sound of his voice, Peter did open his eyes and he spotted Tony above him. He let out a sob of relief, even though he wasn't saved yet. 

 

“It's okay!” He yelled, wishing this suit would move faster. “I'm going to catch you.” 

 

Peter nodded and lifted his hand up, reaching for Tony. He wiggled his fingers and screamed, “Tony!” 

 

“I'm coming, kiddo. I’m coming!” He felt tears burning his eyes. He was so close to saving him. He reached out his hand. There were inches apart.

 

Behind Peter, he could see the ground coming closer. They were close to the cement. If Tony didn't catch Peter soon--

No. He refused to think of that. Just thought mere thought haunted his mind. That would be an an image he would never be able to forget. 

 

He saw the fear in Peter’s eyes as he continued to fall. He was so close he could see the tears pouring down his cheeks. His hands were reaching out for him. He was trying so hard to grab onto Tony. 

 

“I'm gonna catch you, kid,” he said as he pushed the suit to go faster. He just needed a little more speed. His heart was beating wildly. He could just barely hear Peter shouting for him. 

 

They were probably a few feet from the ground when he got close enough. Peter grabbed onto his wrist and immediately pulled his body into Tony. 

 

Tony was going too fast too slow down. There was no stopping the rest of their descent. He didn't really care. He had Peter clinging tightly to his suit and he was not letting him go. So he wrapped his own arms around the kid and rolled them over in the air. 

 

Hopefully, the pedestrians around him realized they were going to crash and got the hell out of the way. He couldn't work about that. Not when his kid was seconds away from making a dent in the pavement. 

 

They crashed to the ground and over the loud sounds of the suit scraping against the cement, Tony could just barely hear FRIDAY read him the warnings of the damage the suit a as taking. He ignored it and just held Peter. 

 

There were people screaming and yelling around them. Tony didn't care about anything other than Peter. They slowed to a stop and neither moved. Peter was shaking and Tony held him tighter. 

 

“Hey, kiddo, it's okay. I've got you,” he whispered in his ear. 

 

Peter clung tighter to Tony and he wished the suit wasn't in between them so Peter could hold onto something soft and human. “I'm sorry,” he mumbled. 

 

“Don't apologize,” Tony said immediately. “You do not apologize for that.”

 

“But, I let them take me. They said they would kill the other kids in my school if I didn't. I didn't think they'd use me against you.” Peter’s voice was stronger, but it was still shaking. 

 

“You didn't know. And while, I don't promote leaving with strangers, you've got that whole self-sacrificing part of being a superhero down, so I'm not surprised.” He flipped up his mask so if Peter look up at him, he'd see his face. 

 

Peter heard the sound and looked up. “Oh,” was all he said. 

 

“What?”

 

“I thought...I didn't know you were in the suit…”

 

Tony frowned. “You were just hugging an empty suit?”

 

“Well, you're still Iron Man. But...I didn't think you had time to get from wherever you were to me. You said you had meetings today and--.” 

 

“The minute I heard you needed help, I came rushing. You're right by the tower.” Tony looked around and noticed the crowd. Many people were recording them or taking pictures of Iron Man holding some kid. This is exactly what got them into this mess in the first place. 

 

“Thank you,” Peter whispered. 

 

“Don't thank me, kiddo. Now, how about we get inside okay? I'll fly us--.” 

 

“ _ No!”  _ Peter responded immediately. He took a steadying breath. “No flying. Not right now.” 

 

Tony paused for a moment and noticed Peter still shaking slightly. “That's okay. No flying. We’ll take the long way, c’mon.” 

 

Peter nodded and they both got to their feet. Tony turned to everyone near them and practically growled, “Get out of the way. Give him some space.” 

 

They parted ways for them to get through. Peter stayed huddled in Tony’s side while they went to the front door of the tower. 

 

When they were away from the crowd and in the lobby, his security ushered them quickly to his private elevator and made sure they were inside safely. They alerted Happy to know he had the kid and they were coming up. 

 

They had the elevator to themselves and Peter was still in his arms. Tony used the time to softly say, “You know I'll never let you fall, Pete.” 

 

Peter held Tony tighter. “I know.” 

 

That was a promise Tony will always keep.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be up on fathers day...but I let time slip away, battled several headaches, let this plot fic run away from me. 
> 
> It's finally here at least. At 3:14 am...2 days after father's day....
> 
> I'm sorry for his shit. Enjoy it anyway

Tony hadn't planned on hosting a Father's Day party at the compound. It hadn't even been a thought in his mind, but of course, the kid had changed that. 

 

It was really just a barbecue for Peter. Between the freezer and the plane incident, Peter’s summer was off to a real crappy start. So, this was supposed to be fun for the kid. Except Peter realized the date and insisted on making it for Father's Day, since both fathers on the team were invited. 

 

Inviting the fathers also meant inviting the families. So, for the first time since they settled all that Accords bullshit, the team was together. And they were happy. Which was...weird…

  
  


“You'll have no problem getting them to bed tonight,” May noted with a smirk as they watched the pack of Barton kids climb up Peter like he was a tree. 

 

Peter was smiling and laughing even when Lila grabbed onto his face with her little claws. Cooper was sitting on his foot, attached to his leg. Nathaniel was being held in Peter's arms-- no matter how much they knocked him around, Tony knew that kid wasn't going to be dropped. 

 

“And I'm am so thankful for that,” Laura laughed. She cringed when Lila tugged pretty hard on Peter’s hair from her spot on his shoulders. “Sorry about the damage being done to your boy.”

 

“Don't be,” May laughs with a wave of her hand. “He's always wanted little brothers or sisters. He loves this.” 

 

Tony looks back to the kid where he's tickling Nathan’s tummy as the toddler lets out loud shrieks. The kid’s face looks so bright. He's not very surprised by May's claim. The kid didn't like to be alone. He probably wanted a sibling more than anything. 

 

“Any time he wants, we can set up a playdate. My kids adore him. He's so good to them.” Laura smiled softly. 

 

Tony had zero right feeling proud of the young man Peter grew into. That compliment was aimed for May. The one that raised the boy. Tony only came into Peter's life when he was already the kid he was. But he still felt a tinge of pride. Just like when he showed him off to the other smartest scientists during Stark events. 

 

He always wrapped an arm around Peter as if to say: “Look at my boy!” 

 

“Oh, he'd love that,” May answered, bringing Tony back to the present.

 

“Hey, uh, is this offer available to me as well? Because Cassie loves that kid and I could use a night off for dinner with Hope.” 

 

Clint shrugged his shoulders. “Seeing as your child is the only one not attacking him, maybe…” he trailed off when they all heard a battle cry. 

 

“Oh, no,” Scott said, turning in his seat just in time to see Peter gain a new leech around his hips. If he weren't Spider-Man, that definitely would have taken him down. 

 

“Hey, you little monkey!” Peter said and that was a mistake to open his mouth because Nathan shoved his binky inside. 

 

Tony let out a laugh at the surprised look on Peter's face. “As entertaining as this is, does anyone think we should save the kid?” 

 

“It's practice for when he has kiddies of his own some day,” Clint said as he took a sip from his beer. 

 

“Please don't talk about my baby like that. He's only 16.” May was probably half kidding. 

 

“He's gonna get a girlfriend or boyfriend someday,” Tony said, patting her on the arm. “They'll marry and have beautiful children to make you a beautiful grandmother.” 

 

May whacked him on the back of the head as he cackled. “Bite your tongue, Tony Stark. I'm not old enough to be a grandmother yet.” 

 

“And I'm old enough to be a grandfather?” Tony asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them. He had no right just  _ inserting  _ himself into their family. That wasn't his--.

 

“You've already got the gray hairs though,” May interrupted his thoughts as she swept her fingers through his hair. 

 

“Haha,” Tony replied dryly, swatting her hand away. “Any and all gray hairs are only because of your wild son, so I think you're the one to blame.” 

 

May rolled her eyes fondly. “Oh, sure I am. It's not because you worry too much,  _ even if he stubs a toe _ .” 

 

“I do not worry too much!” Tony turned to face Rhodey. His best friend would back him up. “Right, Rhodey?” 

 

Rhodey lifted his hands up. “I'm staying out of this.” 

 

He turned to Clint and Scott. “I'm don't worry,” he said more than asked. 

 

“If you don't worry, then I don't drink,” Clint said with raised eyebrows. He finished off his beer to make a point. “And I drink, buddy.” 

 

Tony narrowed his eyes and grumbled under his breath as Rhodey patted his back. “It's okay, Tony. If it makes you feel any better, that kid loves the attention. You're doing great.” 

 

“James is right,” May said, despite him insisting on going by Rhodey like all of his friends. “He needs it-- that's why he's so clingy sometimes. His doctor said it just has to do with him losing so many people in his life. He thrives on the attention, the affection. He hates it about himself and some people think it's annoying.” She smiled sadly. “I think it's adorable.”

 

Tony knew this. The kid was incredibly self conscious about it. But Tony didn't mind when Peter's hand brushed his as they worked or when he became a pillow during movie night. It was a part of what made Peter Peter. And he wouldn't have it any other way. 

 

“You know,” Tony said, “I think I'm gonna tell Peter you called him adorable.” 

 

“You do that and I'll tell him you said it first.” 

 

“Ooh, you're sneaky,” Tony said and she simply shrugged with a smirk. “Fine. I won't tell him. But I agree.” 

 

May laughed, tucking a strand of hair that fell loose from her ponytail behind her ear. “I think we all can.”

 

“Poor kid trying so hard to be a man and you two are calling him adorable behind his back.” Clint shook his head. 

 

“Hey, you can be a man and adorable at the same time,” Tony said. He grinned as he watched Steve and Wanda walk over with trays of food. “Just look at Steven Rogers.” 

 

“Watch it, Tony. I may just spit in your food,” Steve said as he placed the trays down.

 

Tony rolled his eyes, ignoring him and turned to the kids. “Hey, little monsters, come eat before it gets cold.” 

 

The promise of food had Cassie and Cooper running to their table and stumbling into seats. Lila pulled Peter's hair to get him to start walking to the table. Little Nathan in Peter's arms started clapping his hands in excitement as well.  

 

Peter stopped by Clint so Lila could jump into her father's arms and then he took his seat between May and Tony. 

 

Laura held out her hands. “I'll take him,” she offered. 

 

Nathan understood exactly what his mother wanted, so he clung tighter to Peter with a squeal. Peter laughed and said, “It's okay. I can hold him.” 

 

Laura hesitated. “Are you sure?” 

 

“Of course,” Peter said, settling Nathan on his lap. “I love little Nate.” 

 

Nathan leaned back against Peter's chest with a loud giggle. “I know.” 

 

Peter laughed along with him and turned to Tony. “Did you hear that? I said ‘I love him’ and he said ‘I know’. Like  _ Star Wars.”  _

 

“Hey, don't corrupt my child please,” Clint said as he stuffed his mouth with a hamburger. 

 

Tony laughed. “If you let the kid babysit, don't be surprised if he makes yours eat, sleep, and breathe those movies.” 

 

“I'm going to ban it from my household.” 

 

“Okay, boys, let's enjoy our meal in peace.” 

 

“Yeah! ‘Cus after we're gonna beat your butts!” Cassie says, kneeling on her seat so she's higher. 

 

Scott put a hand on her back. “Woah, princess. Whose butts are we beating?” 

 

“The kids had a great idea to have a relay race after dinner,” Sam said. “So, Buck and I worked together to put together some fun obstacles for father-child teams to compete.” 

 

“Oh?” Tony said with a smile. That would be funny to watch. 

 

“Yup. It's gonna be great.” 

 

“Eat up or no one is playing anything,” May said gesturing to everyone's plates. 

 

The men all started eating and nodded their heads with soft murmurs of agreement. Tony shared a grin with May as she winked. 

 

Tony laughed a few more times throughout the dinner when May kept poking Peter and telling him to stop playing with Nathan and to eat his dinner. It took a threat to take away the toddler before Peter finished his cheeseburger. 

 

“Sorry,” Tony whispered loudly to Laura, “I don't think you're getting your kid back.” 

 

\--

 

After dinner was cleaned up, the little game was getting set up. Cassie dragged Scott to the makeshift starting line and Lila was tugging on Clint’s arm. 

 

“Hey, boss,” Clint said to Sam, “can a team have two little kiddies?” 

 

“Unfortunately, teams may only consist of two people or else it wouldn't be fair.” 

 

Cooper looked up at Clint with a bright smile. “It's okay, dad. Lila can be on your team. I'll just find another teammate.” 

 

“You're gonna replace your old man? Just like that?” Clint placed a hand over his heart like he'd been wounded. 

 

“You're my best dad, but I just...Lila wants you and I can just…” His eyes kept flickering to the table where all the adults were sitting. 

 

Clint ruffled his hair. “I'm joking, champ. Go on. But get ready for your butt to be kicked.” 

 

Cooper ran over and Tony watched him stop in front of them. He played with his fingers before looking up at Rhodey. “Uh, Mr. Colonel Rhodes, sir? Do you mind being my partner for the relay race?” 

 

Rhodey sat up a little straighter. “W-what? Cooper, kid, I don't think I should be your choice for a relay race.” 

 

Cooper frowned and tilted his head. “What? Why not?” 

 

There was a soft whirr as Rhodey stretched his legs. “Because...because I ate a lot so I may not be able to...keep up with the others.” 

 

“Are you kidding me? You're the coolest! You're War Machine! You're the best Avenger-- don't tell my dad.” Cooper waved his hands wildly. “You went on over 100 combat missions in the military! That's so awesome.” 

 

Tony smiled watching the boy gush to Rhodey. It was about damn time he started getting attention like this. Rhodey was the real hero. Years before Iron Man was even a thought, Rhodey was out their risking his life to protect their country. 

 

“Well, thanks, kid. I'll keep it a secret from your dad. Don't worry.” He winked with a smile. 

 

“I want to be a soldier when I grow up!” Cooper said, puffing out his chest. 

 

“Oh, really?” Rhodey asked, leaning closer to talk to him. “That's very brave of you.” 

 

“I'm gonna keep my family safe. Little Lila and Nate. Mom and dad too, ‘course.” Cooper bounced on his feet. 

 

Rhodey smiled at him for a moment before nodding his head. “Yeah, okay, yeah. I'll be your partner.” 

 

Cooper grinned and grabbed Rhodey’s hand. “Thank you!” 

 

Tony smiled, watching those two walk to the starting line. “I'm rooting for you, sweetheart! Kick ass!” He blew a kiss as Rhodey flipped him off. 

 

His plan was to sit at the side and watch the train wreck that would be this race, but a sudden set of hands pushing him off his chair changed that. 

 

“C’mon, Mr. Stark, we gotta go before they start without us.” Peter successfully pushed him onto his feet. Damn super strength. 

 

“Without us? Excuse me?” He couldn't slow Peter down if he tried, so he didn't.

 

“If I want to win, I need the best partner. And since Steve is too busy playing with Nate, I figured I'd grab you.” 

 

“Heey,” Tony said when he realized what Peter said. “I'll have you know that I would be the best fake father for a relay race. Not Captain Spangles.” 

 

Peter rolled his eyes. “I'm joking, Mr. Stark. Don't worry. Now, hurry up. I can't win this without you.” 

 

“Fine. I'll do this, but you have to give me half of your slice of cake tonight.”

 

Peter laughed as they came to a stop next to the others. “You got it.” 

 

Rhodey grinned when Tony stopped next to him. “What happened to rooting me on?” 

 

“Well, as you can see, honeybear, I've been dragged into this.” Tony nodded his head towards Peter. 

 

Rhodey laughed and cracked his knuckles. “Get ready to lose, old man.” 

 

“Me old? I'm younger than you, idiot.” Tony flicked Rhodey’s nose. 

 

“Don't look it, buddy,” he replied with raised eyebrows. 

 

“Hey, Lucy and Ricardo,” Sam said, “do you mind piping down? We're trying time explain the rules.” 

 

Tony rolled his eyes. Rules? Seriously? Those two nimrods had too much time on their hands. “Fine. We're all ears.” 

 

“There will be five different games. The winner of each round gets a point and the team with the most points in the end wins.” 

 

“What does the winner get?” Tony asked, raising his hand. 

 

“Winner gets to push Steve into the pool,” Bucky said with a grin. 

 

“How are any of us supposed to push a super soldier into the pool?” Clint asked with raised eyebrows. 

 

“We've got our own super soldier willing to help the cause.” Sam clapped Bucky on the shoulder. “Don't worry about it.” 

 

Tony grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Oh, this just got 100 times better, kid. You better get your game face on. We're dunking Captain America even if we have to trip some babies.” 

 

“They're not that young, Mr. Stark. Lila is almost--.” 

 

“Oh, I was talking about Rhodey.” 

 

“Of course, you were.” Peter rolled his eyes fondly. “But I won't allow that. We're winning fair and square.” 

 

Tony huffed like he was put out. “Fineee,” he dragged out the word dramatically. 

 

“We've got this, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, holding his hand up. Tony shook his head with a smile as he high fived his hand. 

 

“I believe ya, kid.” 

 

\--

 

“This is so cliché,” Tony said, shaking his leg, bringing Peter's along with it. 

 

Peter grabbed onto Tony's arm to hold his balance. “C’mon, Mr. Stark. Three legged races are a classic!” 

 

“Do you know how hard it is to match my long strides to your much shorter ones?” Tony stumbled slightly, but Peter held him up before he could bring them both down. 

 

“Were literally the closest in height compared to everyone else--.” 

 

“Hey! Cheaters! No standing on feet! You've gotta walk on your own!” Tony cut off Peter as he watched Lila place her other foot on top of Clint’s. 

 

“You're taking this pretty serious,” Peter noted. 

 

“Damn right I am-- shit,” Tony cursed as he tripped and dragged them both down. He turned to face Peter quickly. “You okay, Pete?” 

 

Peter was busy giggling next to him, “Yeah, I'm fine!” 

 

Rhodey ran past them and he laughed down at them. “Taking your nap early, old man?” 

 

“Are you wearing your web shooters?” Tony asked Peter. “Web their feet.” 

 

Peter had himself pushed up to his elbows but was still laughing. “I'm not gonna do that! We'll get ‘em back, Mr. Stark, don't worry.” 

 

Tony huffed as he watched Rhodey get closer to the finish line, even laughing with Clint as he passed him. “Great. Not only are we getting last place in the first round, but we fell on our faces.” 

 

“Yeah,” Peter said, staring at a spot below his eye, “you've got some dirt on your cheek.” 

 

“Oh, really? I do?” Tony asked, feigning shock. “Well, so do you.” 

 

Peter went cross eyed momentarily, as he said, “I do? Where?” 

 

“Riiiight there,” Tony said, before shoving his face into a small patch of wet dirt. 

 

Peter lifted his head up slowly, spitting the dirt from off his lips and out of his mouth. “...thanks.” 

 

Tony grinned, tweaking his nose. “No problem, kiddo. Now how about we get up so we can at least cross the finish line?”

 

“I could have done that without the all natural face mask.”

 

“Maybe, but where's the fun in that?”

 

\--

 

“If you drop this fucking water ballon, Peter Parker, I will make you eat it,” Tony warned as he tossed the blue water balloon to Peter. 

 

Just as he said that, a water balloon hit Tony square on the face. “Please no cursing in front of the children,” Bucky said. Tony glared at him before going back to his own toss. 

 

“You're gonna make me  _ eat it?”  _ Peter laughed, catching the balloon carefully. He took a step back and threw it back. 

 

“If I lose again, then yes.” Tony caught it easily and took a step back. He glanced at Rhodey and noticed they were a few steps ahead of them.  _ Slow and steady wins the race,  _ Tony thought to himself. 

 

He tossed the balloon back and almost cried out when Peter caught it with one hand. “Got it!” 

 

“Careful!” He yelled as he watched Peter toss the balloon from one hand to the other. “Oh, my God, kid.  _ Stop.”  _

 

But the little shit only let out an laugh as he tossed the balloon under his leg. Tony took a step forward to catch it against his chest. “Don't do that again.” 

 

“Loosen up a bit, Mr. Stark!” Peter said. “We're doing great!” Just as Peter said that and Tony threw the balloon to him, it slipped through his fingers. Time seemed to slow down as Tony watched it crash to the ground and pop. Tony stared at Peter as the kid cringed. “Whoops.”

 

Tony shook his head. “I'm gonna kill you, kid.” 

 

\--

 

“Why am I the blindfolded one?” Tony asked as he tied a tie around his eyes. 

 

“Because they said I'd use my spidey powers for sensing and that's cheating,” Peter explained as he handed Tony a spoon and the egg. 

 

“So, I gotta look like the idiot?” Tony huffed, lifting the spoon to his mouth. He bit down on the handle and then balanced the egg in the spoon. His vision was pitch black now and he had to rely on Peter to tell him where to go. 

 

They had to go around a few cones and then at the end, drop the egg safely into Sam’s hand. Balancing an egg in his mouth was hard enough, but now he had to do it blind. 

 

“Okay, just walk straight. I'll tell you when to turn.” He heard Peter's voice say. 

 

“If you make me do something dumb, I will draw on your face the next time you take a nap by me,” Tony warned.

 

Peter laughed and Tony felt himself smile. “I won't, Mr. Stark. Trust me.” 

 

_ Trust me.  _

Tony could be walking a wire over a pool of lava and if Peter was the only person keeping him from falling in, he wouldn't doubt him for a moment. 

 

But this was just a game and Tony was still waiting for payback from the face-in-the-dirt incident. 

 

“I do trust you,” he said, slowly. “Please don't make me regret it.” 

 

“Just stop talking or you'll drop our egg. You can trust me,” Peter said. “So, keep going straight.” 

 

Tony moved one slow foot in front of the other. He felt the egg titter when he was going too fast, so he slowed his pace even more. He wished he could see where Rhodey was. 

 

“Take a right, yeah-- keep turning aaand stop!” Tony halted to a stop and waited for Peter to continue. “Oh, right sorry. Now go left.” Tony rolled his eyes. 

 

This continued for a few minutes until Peter stopped talking and Tony assumed he was supposed to continue going straight...until he walked into what felt like a tree and the egg broke immediately. He winced at the pain of his nose taking most of the hit. 

 

He lifted the tie off his eyes and turned to find where Peter was. He saw him immediately facing the table where Steve, May, and Laura were playing with Nathan. “Peter!” He yelled. 

 

The kid jumped and turned to face Tony. His eyes widened when he realized what happened. “Oh-- crap, I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. Just-- Nate was being really cute over there and I just wanted to watch him for a quick second.” 

 

Tony shook his head. “You're really something else, kid.” Peter frowned apologetically and Tony draped his arm around his shoulders. Come on, let's go find Rhodey so I can at least smush this egg yolk on his face without him knowing.” 

 

\--

 

“This is so much closer to you than I ever hoped to be,” Tony admitted as he stared in Peter's eyes, only inches away. 

 

Peter rolled his eyes with a smile and said, “I have a good feeling about this one.” He was so close, Tony could smell the sour cream and onion chips on his breath. 

 

Their second to last event was to keep a small beach ball between their foreheads as they made their way to the finish line. They had already gone a foot and they still had ways to go, but hey-- they weren't the first ones out this time. 

 

“Thanks for jinxing it, Parker.”

 

“Even if we don't win today, I still had fun. Thanks for joining me,” Peter said, abruptly changing the conversation.

 

“Don't thank me. I'm having fun too. Even if we somehow wind up in last place every round,” Tony said, hoping that was enough to erase up this topic. He hated emotions and feelings. But there was nowhere to run now. Not unless he wanted to lose. 

 

“Sorry we couldn't beat Colonel Rhodes at any of the games. I know you two get competitive.” Peter continued to walk backwards towards the bucket they had to drop the beach ball in. 

 

“Competitive? No. Just some friendly competition,” Tony said. 

 

Peter raised his eyebrows. “Seriously? You're gonna try and tell me that you two don't get competitive? The last time you two played laser tag, the game last almost 28 hours.”

 

“I was defending your honor!” Tony said remembering when him and Peter had teamed up against Rhodey. Rhodey still won. Tony knew it was because he had all that special training for the military. That wasn't very fair. 

 

“No, you weren't. I was hit, and like a normal person I just sat out. You and Colonel Rhodes were literally making the entire compound a war zone. I was used as a human shield!” 

 

“I apologized for that! Remember the  _ Star Wars  _ Lego set I gave you. That was my ‘I'm sorry’ gift.” 

 

“Oh, yes, I remember. When I finally finished it, you dove across the room to avoid getting hit and landed on it. You didn't even avoid getting hit! You lost!” 

 

Tony winced. He could still feel those Lego pieces dig into his stomach. He hadn't meant to ruin the kid’s set, but he called a rematch from the first round and desperate times call for desperate measures. He dove to avoid the shot, but Rhodey was quick and before Tony could roll away, he got him in the center of his chest. 

 

“Okay, that was not part of my getaway plan. Sometimes, there are unfortunate casualties.”

 

Peter rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Sometimes, you're a giant child, Mr. Stark.”

 

“Hey, I disagree with that.”

 

“Too late. You're not allowed to. I have decided and my word is final,” Peter replied. 

 

“Your word is final? Kid, you're like 12.” 

 

“Haha,” Peter said sarcastically. “I know you know I'm not 12. In fact, I'll be 1 _ 8  _ soon.” 

 

Tony wanted to shake his head. If that wouldn't knock the ball from between their foreheads, he would have. “None of that. You're not turning 18. You're still 14. You are no longer allowed to age.” He raised his voice and said, “You're welcome, May!”

 

“You're not allowed to stop my aging. It doesn't work like that,” Peter said with a laugh. 

 

“Nope. I don't care. I will invent a time rewinder, rewind you back to, hmm, four-years-old and never let you age another day.” 

 

“Why four?” Peter asked in amusement. 

 

“Four is the perfect age. Old enough to not need diapers and can eat real food. Also old enough to walk by yourself but still be carried when desired. It's also, probably the cutest age.” Peter didn't say a word and Tony frowned. “What?” 

 

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. You just really thought this out.” 

 

_ Shit. Feelings. And he couldn't run away. “ _ Just something I think about from time to time.” He avoided looking Peter in the eyes, which was really hard, considering the little distance between them. 

 

Peter patted his arm. “It's okay, Mr. Stark, you'll have a little one of your own someday.” 

 

Tony sniffed and waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah. Are we done with all this gushy feelings crap? Because--.” 

 

“Oh, no, Mr. Stark,” Peter said suddenly. 

 

Tony tensed immediately. “What's wrong? Is Rhodey about to pass us?”

 

“No!” 

 

“Then, what--?” 

 

Peter cut him off with a sneeze. The ball fell from between them, but even worse:  _ Peter sneezed right on his face.  _ “Oh, my god, Mr. Stark. I'm  _ so  _ sorry!” 

 

Tony closed his eyes, taking a calming breath. “Kid…”

 

Peter chuckled nervously. “That was just practice! You know...for when your kid sneezes in your mouth…you know what? I'm just gonna go...see what the last game is. Meet you at the starting line!” 

 

Tony opened his eyes to see Peter running away. Did he really need another kid? The one he had was already more than enough of a handful. 

 

\--

 

The last round was just a race with obstacles thrown around for then to avoid. It wasn't that hard but it was long. They were separated and the two different paths would meet up just a few feet before the finish line. 

 

He hadn't seen Peter since he started running, but the kid had super powers-- he should be able to run fast. Except, he was also on the same path of the little kids, so they could easily turn him to their side. Peter was such a mush when it came to kids, Tony would be surprised if he didn't come running past the finish line with all the kids in his arms. 

 

But he'd just have to hope Peter was taking this as seriously as him and Rhodey. 

 

“I'm gonna kick your ass, loser!” Rhodey said passing him as they reached the home stretch.  

 

“You wish!  _ Both  _ team members have to cross the finish line. I see you, but where's--?” 

 

Unsurprisingly with Tony's luck, Cooper came running out of the bushes with a big grin. “I'm here, Mr. Colonel Rhodes!” 

 

“I see you! Come on, buddy!” Rhodey winked at Tony as he ran past with the kid by his side. 

 

There's no way Peter was still in there if a kid came running out already. Where the hell-- “What the fuck?” There was a sudden weight on his back that had him stumbling. 

 

He turned his head to see what the hell jumped on him. He really shouldn't have been surprised to see Peter's big brown eyes and his gummy smile. “Hey, Mr. Stark.”

 

“Hey, Petey. Don't take this the wrong way because I love when you get in touch with the half of you that is a koala bear, but what the hell are you doing?” He moved his arms to under Peter’s legs so he could hold him up.

 

Peter wrapped his legs around Tony's waist and his arms around his neck. Peter rested his chin on the top of his head after smoothing down his hair. “Giddy up!”

 

“Giddy up-- Peter,  _ what the fuck _ ?” 

 

“Run! Run or we're going to lose!” Peter squeezed him even tighter. 

 

Tony laughed as Peter kicked his legs slightly. “Kid, we already lost. Rhodey and Cooper have won all the other rounds.”

 

“Then we go down fighting,” Peter said right in his ear. 

 

“Oh, for Christ's sake, are we-- are we actually doing this?” Tony fixed his hold on Peter. “I guess we are doing this. Hold on tight, kiddo.”

 

Peter let out a small giggle as Tony started running. He smiled at the sound as he hurried down the path. 

 

“You know, you should be the one carrying me, Spider-Man,” Tony huffed. 

 

“Run!” Peter yelled, patting his chest repeatedly. 

 

“I'm running, you little shit.” Tony rolled his eyes with a smile. 

 

They crossed the finish line behind Rhodey, but the laughter coming from Peter...that made it all worth it. 

 

\--

 

“I had a great time today, Mr. Stark,” Peter said as him and May were getting ready to leave.

 

“Even though we lost?”

 

“How many people can say they've sneezed on Tony Stark’s face?” Peter grinned.

 

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Get of here.” 

 

Peter smiled widely and leaned forward to wrap Tony in a hug. “Love you, Mr. Stark.” 

 

It was teasing, but that didn't stop his heart from warming up with affection. He wrapped one arm around him and used the other to pat his back. “Alright, buddy. I love you, too. Now go.”

 

Peter gave him a quick kiss on the cheek with a grin. He pulled away and sang, “Happy Father's Day!” 

 

Tony huffed, shooing him towards the door. “Get out of here, weirdo.” 

 

“I'll see you tomorrow!” He said before hurrying out to the car. 

 

Tony shook his head and turned around to head to his room, but something caught his eye. He frowned as he lifted the envelope off the table.  _ Mr. Stark _ was written in the on the front. 

 

He opened it up and pulled out the card. It was red with a picture of his arc reactor and the words:  _ Happy Father's Day.  _ He rolled his eyes as he opened the card. Already printed was,  _ You're my hero, Dad!  _

 

But, Tony's favorite part was the inside where Peter had scribbled a short message for him. 

 

_ Dear Mr. Stark,  _

_I know I'm not your kid and you're not my dad...but thank you._ _Thank you for making me feel like you are. Thank you for being here when Dad and Uncle Ben couldn't be. I know they'd be proud of who was watching out for me._

_ Thank you for being my hero. _

_ Peter Parker.  _

 

Tony stared at those words for a long few moments without moving. This felt too good to be true. He didn't deserve a kid like Peter Parker. 

 

He wiped his eye when he felt it burning from welling tears. A lump grew in his throat that he could swallow past. 

 

Damn this kid always making him have to deal with emotions...

 

Tony looked down at the kid’s note again and smiled. Maybe he wasn't his real father and Peter wasn't his real son, but they were pretty darn close to it. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave your thoughts below. They make me smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter is dedicated to my love losingmymindtonight. I hope it brings a smile to your face. You deserve all the happiness and love in the world.
> 
> (Let's see how many of her kinks I can knock out in here--)

“Where are going?” Peter asked, his voice whining slightly. 

 

Tony rolled his eyes. “What did I tell you no more than fifteen minutes ago?”

 

“That it's a surprise,” he grumbled from the passenger seat. 

 

Nodding his head, Tony said, “Exactly. And the answer remains the same.”

 

“Why is it a surprise?” Peter asked, his voice growing softer with drowsiness. 

 

“Refresh my brain, kiddo. Why was I at your apartment until four am the other night watching you blow out candles and open presents? I don't let Spider-Babies fall asleep on my lap with  _ Star Wars  _ on the television everyday, you know.” Tony glanced over at Peter to see the shy smile on his face before turning his attention back to the road. 

 

Having Peter fall asleep on his lap during a movie night was more common than not lately. That kid was a ball of energy during the day, but there was a time when he lost his steam. Tony would watch out for the signs. It started when his words came slower, matching his movements. That was easiest to spot since he was usually as hyper as an energetic puppy. Then his eyelids would start drooping, covering half of his big brown eyes as he rubbed them between little yawns he usually tried to cover up. The final giveaway that let Tony know Peter was exhausted was when he became increasingly more clingy. It was like the exhaustion made him feel vulnerable enough to stay close and hold tight to those around him-- like he was afraid to lose them. 

 

“It was my birthday,” Peter said, pulling his thoughts back to the tired kid sitting shotgun. 

 

“Exactly. And this is part of your present--.” 

 

“You got me something already. The limited edition  _ Star Wars _ \--.” 

 

“Oh, please. This is different. Just hush, Spider-Baby. Maybe take a nap before we get there.

 

Peter usually argued about napping and how he wasn't a “Spider-Baby”, but today he let his eyes flutter shut without argument. “Maybe I will. Since I was woken up before the sun today.” 

 

Tony laughed. Sure, it was early still, but they were an hour or two away from their destination and they had a lot to do once they got there. Tony didn't want Peter having to rush through this. “Alright, Sleeping Beauty. I'll wake you when we get there.” 

 

Peter grinned before curling up and going quiet until his breathing evened out and he started snoring softly. Tony lowered the radio and listened to Peter for the next hour and a half. 

  
  


When Tony parked the car, he shook Peter's shoulder softly. “Hey, Pete. Wake up. C’mon, buddy.” 

 

Peter scrunched his nose as he took his time waking up. He blinked open his eyes as he looked up at Tony. “Oh, hey, Mr. Stark.” 

 

Tony rolled his eyes fondly. “Hello, Peter.” 

 

“We here?” He asked, rubbing the last of his sleepiness from his eyes. 

 

“Yup.” He rubbed him on the shoulder softly. 

 

Peter sat up quickly looking around out the windows. “Where are we?” He asked eagerly, the tiredness gone. 

 

“Oh, nowhere special...just at a private track in Long Island for racing…” He watched Peter closely for his reaction. 

 

“Racing…” Peter replied, his mind working hard to figure out what they were doing. “Wait-- like race cars?” He asked, sitting up straighter. 

 

“I don't know, kiddo. Why don't you tell me.” Tony smiled, nodding his head towards the building that held a track on the inside. 

 

“Ohmygod,” he said all in one breath. “Seriously, Mr. Stark? This is gonna be so  _ cool!”  _

 

“Yeah, well, part of the reason we left so early was because you need a few lessons before getting behind the wheel. I don't care that we’ve been practicing on the streets-- this is different than my Audi.” 

 

Peter started nodding. “Got it! Totally! I’ll be really careful and I'll listen to everything you tell me!” 

 

“That's good, kid. I've got an actual Nascar instructor waiting inside for you...I think that could work better--.”

 

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Peter said quickly, leaning over to pull Tony into a hug. 

 

Tony laughed as he threaded his fingers through Peter’s hair. He flattened down the lumpy curl that always stuck up after his naps. “You're welcome, Peter.” He cleared his throat, trying to get some of the obvious affection out of his voice (he had a reputation to uphold, after all) and said, “How about we go in there?” 

 

Peter was out of the car before Tony could blink. “Wait up, kid!” He yelled, rushing after him. This was going to be a long but fun day. 

 

\--

 

After hours of going through training for driving a Nascar racecar, Peter was finally ready to get behind the wheel. There were three there: Peter had one (it had Spider-Man on it), Tony was using his blue Stark Industries car and Rhodey was there to ride in a car that had hundreds of Iron Man stickers (“Don't you have another...less obnoxious car for me?” “What's a matter? Scared of being seen as Iron Man’s biggest fan?” “War Machine is better, and that's the kids thing anyway.”) 

 

“The helmets all have comms, so we're connected at all times. If you need help for any reason, we'll stop immediately and you'll be okay,” Tony said as Peter suited up. 

 

“I'll be fine,” he said, pulling the helmet over his head. 

 

“And I have emergency medical services right there--.” 

 

“Paranoid much?” Peter furrowed his brow.

 

“Cautious,” Tony corrected. “Now, go smile by your car. You look adorable and May wants a picture.” Peter groaned, acting highly inconvenienced, but he posed for Tony anyway. “Atta boy,” he said, lifting his phone up. “Say cheese!” 

 

“Cheeeese!” Peter said with a big smile. 

 

Tony snapped the picture and looked down at it with a smile of his own. “Very handsome. May will love this.” He texted her a copy of the picture and set it as his background. 

 

May immediately responded:  _ so cute!!!  _ Followed by:  _ make sure you keep an eye on him!  _

 

Tony knew May was overprotective over the kid. Hell, everyone that knew him was: Tony, Rhodey, Happy...none of them would hesitate before taking a bullet for him. 

 

He texted her back:  _ may we all will watch the wild child don't worry  _

 

_ If my kid comes back like he did last time your custody is withdrawn.  _

 

Tony chuckled.  _ That was one time and i didn’t know the kid has a sugar intake limit… _

 

_ well, now you do.  _ _   
_ _ have fun!! tell my baby i said hi and i love him!! _ __   
  


Tony pocketed his phone, knowing the kid was probably getting antsy to start driving. He grinned over at him and cooed, “Oh, Spider-Baby, you’re Auntie wants me to remind you that she loves you so much, you’re adorable and she packed you a juice box for your lunch today. Don’t worry-- I told her you got your nap in, so you won’t be cranky.” 

 

“I’m gonna make you cry,” Peter said as he glared at Tony. 

 

Tony pursed his lips. “Aww, that’s so cute. You think you’re gonna win. Get in your car, Lightning McQueen, and get ready to eat my dust.”

 

“If I’m Lightning that must make you Doc then...the old washed up one?” Peter hopped into the car through the window, just like the instructor showed them. 

 

“Watch it, kid. This old guy can still kick your ass. With pleasure.” Tony winked before making his way to his car. He threw on his helmet and said, “Platypus and Brat, can you hear me?”

 

“We hear you just fine, moron,  _ unfortunately _ ,” Rhodey’s voice comes back over the comm link. 

 

“Brat here and ready to kick your butt,” Peter’s voice followed shortly after. 

 

Tony laughed. “Kid, you’re 17 now. You can say ass, I won’t tell May.” 

 

Peter hesitated and for a moment, Tony didn’t think he was going to say it, but then his voice came back again, “Brat here and ready to kick your ass.” 

 

“That’s my boy,” Tony said, before he even realized what words were coming out of his mouth.

 

“Alright, Dad,” Rhodey said, mockingly. “Let’s start this race before the kid turns 97.” 

 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He started his car and the other two follow. “You ready to lose?”

 

“Let’s see who’s the winner after all of this,” Rhodey said. 

 

Tony grinned, loving the rush of adrenaline running through him. He hadn’t done something like this in a while. It was good to forget about Iron Man and Stark Industries problems and just be a kid again. “Boogity, boogity, boogity, boys. Let's go racing!” 

 

Then the green light signalled above their heads and they were off. Tony smiled when the first thing he heard in from the headset was Peter's laughter. 

 

Rhodey was good. Honestly, a little too good. They probably had army complete vigorous Nascar training before graduating from boot camp. The guy was a friggin’ natural. It was frustrating when he used to just race against him, but now that he had Peter to pick on, it was much more fun. 

 

He was already ahead of the kid, but he kept close by since he knew this was his first time on the track. “What was that about kicking ass, kiddie?”

 

Peter didn’t seem put down that was he was in last place. “Just wait!” 

 

“Uh huh,” Tony said, turning around a bend, watching his rearview to see Peter follow safely behind. “We’ll see.” 

 

“You’re just ahead now. I still have time to pass you! And then start lapping you,” Peter bragged, his voice loud from excitement. 

 

“You’re so confident you’re going to win, how about we make a little wager?” Tony smirked, even though Peter wouldn’t be able to see it. 

 

“Excuse me, boys, some of us are trying to win a race over here,” Rhodey said, over their bantering in the comm.

 

“Winner gets…” Peter hummed as he decided on a wager. “Winner gets to eat the last Oreo in the package next time.”

 

Tony thought back to every time they opened a package of Oreos (and inevitably, finished all three sleeves in one sitting) and there was always a fight over the last Oreo. Usually, Peter's puppy dog eyes made him the winner, but sometimes they played for it (rock, paper, scissors, or coin flipping, or wrestling...nothing out of the ordinary) and even if he lost, Peter still used his puppy eyes to get it from Tony. 

 

“Deal,” Tony said quickly. 

 

Peter laughed and warned, “Watch out! Now I've got something to win!” 

  
  


For the most part, Peter stayed well behind him, but Tony also slowed down at times to give him a chance. Even though he was behind, he never got upset. He was laughing and taunting Tony the entire time. 

 

“You're talking big for being in  _ last place,”  _ Tony said as they were getting closer to the end  of the race. 

 

“Last place, really?” Peter's eager voice came through the comm set before Tony heard the engine getting louder and suddenly, he was being passed. “Eat my dust, old man!” 

 

Tony watched him speed up with wide eyes as Rhodey laughed in his ears. He narrowed his eyes.  _ He was gonna get that Oreo, dammit.  _ “Oh, you're on, kiddie!” He pressed his foot on the accelerator until he was almost bumper to bumper with Peter. “Give up and I won't make your defeat as bad!” 

 

“Never!” Peter yelled.

 

Rhodey’s car lapped them and he said, “You two are morons,” as he passed. 

 

Tony drove his car closer. “Prepare to lose!” 

 

“Hey!” Peter said, loudly. “Don't push me off the road!” 

 

“I'm not! I'm just teasing,” Tony rolled his eyes, jerking the steering wheel towards Peter's car again. Except, Peter also moved his car suddenly and the same time and the nose of Tony's car hit the corner of Peter's car. It was a gentle tap, but when two cars going almost 200 miles per hour touch...the result isn't pretty. 

 

Tony's car swerved and he struggled to keep control of it, but he didn't care about him. He's biggest worry was Peter. The moment seemed to to go in slow motion-- a moment that would be forever ingrained in his memories.

 

Peter's car rolled, crashing into the asphalt. The nose hit the ground at an odd angle and suddenly, his car was in the air flipping. 

 

Tony slammed on the brake, the sound of yelling and metal screeching barely heard over the pounding in his ears. “No, no, no--  _ Peter!”  _ He screamed as he fell out of the window in haste to get out. 

 

People were already rushing the tracks. The emergency services he had called beforehand, just in case, were storming in. But, never in a million years did he imagine  _ this  _ would happen _. _

 

Tony reached Peter's overturned car first and he dove to his hands and knees to stick himself inside the car window. He was relieved to see Peter conscious; his eyes were wide in fear. The car was mangled and Tony quickly checked him over for any parts of the car sticking into his skin. There was nothing except a small cut on his forehead dripping blood down his face and into his eye. 

 

His big brown eyes found Tony and that seemed to make it worse. His chest started rising and falling heavily, like he couldn't breathe. 

 

“M-Mr. Stark, I can't--.” 

 

“Hey, calm down, kiddo. It's okay. I'm gonna get you out of here,” Tony said keeping his voice soft so he didn't worry Peter. 

 

“It's too tight-- it's crushing me. I can't breathe. Mr. Stark,” he said, his voice breaking. “I can't-- I'm stuck. Help!” 

 

Tony knew Peter was stuck back under the rubble of that warehouse. It was something that still haunted his dreams every now and then. He reached out a hand to try and touch him, to give him any sort of comfort. 

 

He brushed against his wrist and Peter's other hand hurried to grab Tony's hand. His shaking hand squeezed Tony's palm tightly. “It's okay, I'm here--.” 

 

The grip on his hand tightened when he heard Peter let out a low whimper. He looked at his face and his heart leaped into his throat. Peter must have ripped off his helmet before Tony got here because now, his sweaty curls were matted to his forehead and there was a steady stream of liquid dripping down his face. 

 

Tony didn't need to sniff to know what it was. 

 

“Okay, buddy,” Tony said, working much faster. The clock was against them. That was  _ gasoline  _ dripping down his face with a fire already started in the back of the car-- Tony didn't want to think about that. 

 

“Mr. S-Stark,” Peter whimpered, sounding like a terrified child during a thunderstorm. He  _ was  _ a terrified child, but instead of a storm, he was afraid of the car he was trapped upside down in.

 

Tony heard yelling behind him as the others noticed the imminent catastrophe. He didn't worry about anything other than Peter. He hand to let go of Peter's hand to start tugging on his seat belts. “C’mon, kiddo, we gotta go,” he said it casually but the panic was threatening to seep through. 

 

Peter had his eyes squeezed shut as the gasoline streamed down his face. He was making small wheezing noises between his whimpers. Tony knew he was stuck under that building in his mind. 

 

“Hey, buddy, you're okay. But, we gotta go.” He undid the belt and Peter fell forward. It seemed to drag him from his subconscious. His wide, tear filled eyes looked clearer as he stared at him. “Time to go, Pete.” 

 

Peter nodded his head rapidly as he started to crawl through the broken wreck to get to Tony. He was going as fast as he could, but Tony knew it wasn't fast enough. He urged him to go faster impatiently as Peter babbled countless apologies. 

 

“Time to go. C’mon,” he said, reaching his arms out again. Peter was so close to him, but he suddenly stopped. More like, he suddenly  _ was _ stopped.

 

He whipped has head to look behind him where he saw his ankle caught in the wreckage. “Mr. Stark-- I'm stuck!” 

 

Tony felt his own anxiety climbing as he tried to go in deeper. “Pull it! Kid, you gotta pull it out. I don't care if you break it-- just get out.  _ It's time to go.”  _ Broken ankles healed, burnt bodies didn't. 

 

Peter nodded and started tugging to get his ankle free. It would hurt, but he had super strength. He could get it down. Tony wasn't sure he could get it done in time. He scooted forward and wrapped his arms around the kid. “I'm gonna pull, okay?” 

 

Peter wrapped his arms around Tony, but before either of them could get a solid hold on each other, Tony was ripped from the car. In a moment, he was being dragged away from the flaming car and  _ his kid.  _ He struggled against the firefighters’ hold. 

 

Rhodey was somewhere near screaming, “Jesus Christ, get him out of there!” 

 

“No!” Tony struggled as each of his arms were restrained by two men. “Peter! Let me go! I need to get my kid!” 

 

Above all the yelling around him, he could still hear Peter. He was calling for help. He was calling for  _ him. _ The car was just about engulfed in flames, but Tony wasn't going to let him burn in there.

 

He wrenched one hand out of the hold and punched the medic’s jaw. He'd deal with the charges later. He was free now. He was back inside the car in a minute and he didn't hesitate before reaching towards Peter. “Okay, kid, it's  _ really  _ time to go now.” 

 

Peter shook his head. “Mr. Stark-- go, get away! Something bad--.” 

 

“The something bad about to happen is barbecued spider, so  _ please  _ just come.” He stretched his arms out for him. 

 

Peter must have worked on his ankle while Tony was handling the men holding him back because he was crawling freely to get to him. He practically threw himself into Tony's arms. 

 

Tony held one arm around his back and had one tucked into his wet curls. He started crawling back out, dragging the kid with him. But just before Tony could pull the kid’s feet out, Peter shouted in his ear and in the next moment, the car exploded. Tony felt the flames lick their skin as they were thrown through the air. 

 

Peter had his face stuck in Tony's neck and his fingers dug into his back. Tony landed on his back with Peter still curled in his chest, but he quickly rolled over when he heard another explosion. Pieces of the car rained down on them, but Tony made sure to protect Peter from it all. 

 

Tony didn't move for a long few moments. He stayed there with his body sheltering Peter as he listened to the kid muffle his sobs in his neck. He'd stay there forever if he could. 

 

Of course, with Tony's luck, that was when Peter was ripped from his arms-- again. This time, it was Peter being pulled away. Paramedics were dragging him, but he kept his tight grip on Tony. 

 

“Sir, let him go. We have to attend to his wounds,” one of them was saying as Tony held onto his kids just as tightly. 

 

“Mr. Stark, please don't let me go. I don't want to leave you!” His voice was panicked and his pupils were blown as he looked up at Tony. 

 

Tony ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't even sure if the kid knew where he was. “Petey, you gotta let them look you over.”  But he didn't let go of him. 

 

“N-no!” 

 

“Sir, he's breathing isn't right. He's inhaled too much smoke, we need to get him to the ambulance,” the paramedic sounded much more serious. 

 

Once Peter's breathing issue was mentioned, it was hard for Tony not to notices the way he was wheezing. That made up is mind. “Pete, you're gonna be fine. I'll be right behind you.” He reluctantly let go of Peter. 

 

Peter shook his head, but Tony pushed him gently towards the medics. They were only here to help. Peter  _ needed _ help. So, Peter was whisked away towards the awaiting ambulance, but before Tony could follow behind them, he was taken by another medic. 

 

“Hey, I need to go with him--.” 

 

“You need to get checked out, Mr. Stark.” 

 

“The hell I do--!”

 

_ “Mr. Stark!”  _

 

Tony wanted to punch someone else when he heard Peter calling his name and he could do nothing to get to him. “That's my kid. I need to go--.” 

 

“Tony, calm down. He's fine,” Rhodey panted as he ran over to them. “He needs to be checked over and so do you.” 

 

Tony didn't care about himself. Peter was the one that mattered. “Go to Peter! He's scared-- just sit with him.” 

 

Rhodey looked Tony over, like he was checking for any fatal wounds. Then he gave in, “Okay, okay. I'll sit with him and let him know you'll be there soon.” 

 

“Thank you,” Tony said, feeling much better knowing  _ someone  _ familiar was going to be sitting with him. 

 

Rhodey nodded and let out a shaky breath. “You scared the shit out me, man. Never again.”

 

“Rhodey.” 

 

“I'm glad you're okay.” 

 

_ “Rhodey.”  _

 

“Peter. I know. I'm going.” He rubbed Tony's arms before hurrying back over to the other ambulance. 

 

In the next second, Tony was turning to the medic steering him to a different ambulance. “10 minutes tops. Then I'm running to that kid. I don't care if you're finished or not.” 

 

The medic clenched his jaw, looking like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. He looked Tony over quickly, wrapping up his wounds. There were only a few burns that needed looking at. Considering what he'd just survived, he got off easy. He just wanted to know how his kid was doing. 

 

The minute his arm was wrapped, he rushed out of the ambulance and over to the other once. He stumbled into the back and startled Rhodey, who was sitting by the kid’s side holding his hand. 

 

Tony saw the kid laying there and he could have cried. He was in a stretcher, but it looked like a bed with all of the blankets he was coddled with. There was a bandage wrapped around his forehead over a cut that would probably heal by that night and an oxygen mask strapped around his face. His eyes were shut, making his ash and blood covered face look so much younger than he already did. 

 

He climbed up and took an empty seat on the kids other side. “I think he's asleep,” Rhodey said softly. 

 

But the moment that Tony grabbed his hand, his eyes fluttered open. His heavy eyelids and his missed hair were almost like this morning when he woke up after his car nap. He said something, but it wasn't understandable through the oxygen mask. 

 

“I can't hear you, bud,” Tony said. He was still afraid something was wrong with him that he didn't know about. How were his feet after being caught in the blast? 

 

Peter took his hand from Rhodey and weakly pulled the mask from his mouth. It rested on his chin as he said, “You...came back.” 

 

Tony frowned. “‘Course I did, kiddo. I told you I was gonna be here right after I was done.” 

 

Peter shook his head and spoke up, “No,” he paused to take a deep breath, “in the car. You came back.” 

 

Suddenly, the images of Peter's terrified face as Tony was ripped away from him fill his mind. He could hear the kid sobbing for him. The memory made him nauseous. “I'll always come back for you, Peter.” 

 

Peter smiled, and he looked a bit dazed from everything that had happened. “I know.” 

 

Tony chuckled as he shook his head. The kid was smiling. He was going to be okay. “Next time, don't scare me like that.” 

 

The smile faltered but didn't disappear from Peter's face. “I think I'm done with racing for a while,” he admitted, his words coming out slow. 

 

“I think we both are.” 

 

Peter had the look on his face like he was thinking and he opened his mouth. It took are few extra seconds for him to dorm his words, “So, I won, right?” 

 

Of all the things he could say, that wasn't what Tony expected. He squeezed Peter's hand with one hand and replaced his oxygen mask with the other. He knitted his fingers in Peter's soot covered curls. “Yeah, Pete. We all did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by Florida Georgia Line's music video for May We All.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for the typos in this it's 5:30 and i finally finished. enjoy it please..i can't decide whether i love this or hate it....

Peter could almost cry when he saw the outside. There were no doors near him, but the dirty window was right there, sunlight barely leaking in through the streaks of grime covering the glass. He wasn’t sure when another window was going to come in his path and even though he was on the second floor, he didn’t care. His one goal was to just  _ get out of there. _

 

He didn’t hesitate before throwing himself into the window, the glass shattering around him. The sting of glass was nothing compared to the panic clawing up his throat. He hit the ground in no more than a few seconds and the air was forced from his lungs, even though he landed on his side. He laid on the ground to give him a few moments to get over the pain radiating throughout his body. 

 

He scrambled away from the warehouse and stared up with wide eyes. He saw the now broken window he dove out of and no one was following him out which was both good and bad. He didn’t want the bad guys coming after him, but Tony was in there with him. They had been running side by side until they were separated and agreed to just get the hell out of there and meet up. 

 

It had been a mission that was supposed to be easy to wrap up. Hydra-copy-cats were experimenting on dogs and wolves and such to make their own animal soldiers. Tony and Peter were supposed to go in, find any plans on where their main base of operations was and get out of there. Colonel Rhodes was waiting on the other side for them, but had no idea if they were in trouble or not. They were given 24 hours to get in, get out, and get to the safe space. If they weren’t back on time, they’d need back-up to go storming in. 

But it was supposed to be easy. They weren’t supposed to be ambushed and captured. 

 

It took time to get out of the bindings keeping them tied down, mostly because they had to wait to be alone. But, the moment they were, Peter snapped the chains off of him and then moved to Tony. 

And they ran. 

 

Halfway through their escape, they heard the snarling of the canines. Tony shoved Peter through a doorway with a quick, “Get out. I’ll hold them off. I’ll meet you at Rhodey’s spot.” Then he shut the door between them, locking Peter on the other side. 

 

Peter had screamed and begged Tony to open it up and come with him, but he didn’t budge. He would have continued to pound on the metal door if another group of barking monsters didn’t come barreling down his hallway. 

  
  


He knew that now that he was free, he should run to their spot, where Colonel Rhodes was waiting, but he couldn’t leave Tony in there. He pushed himself back to his feet and made his way back towards the building. He heard voices along with the animalistic growls, thanks to his enhanced senses, coming from inside. He couldn’t hear his mentor at all. 

 

Stumbling around to the other side of the building took some effort because he was still feeling off from that tumble down two stories. He definitely bruised, maybe even cracked, a few ribs from the harsh impact. He didn’t care about that, though. He didn’t care if he broke every bone in his body. He just wanted to see Tony safe and sound outside of that horrid place. 

 

On the backside of the building, he saw a wooden door that didn’t look very reinforced. If he could sneak back inside and maybe find Tony or even where they put their suits after capturing them, it would be a  _ big  _ help. He could contact Colonel Rhodes through Karen or FRIDAY. But they both hadn’t had that since they woke up chained to a basement wall; Tony in his undersuit and Peter in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. 

 

Going in, while very dangerous, sounded more productive than sitting out here waiting for something. So, he took a deep breath and headed towards the door. Just as he was about to pull on the doorknob to test if it was locked, the door came exploding on him. He shouted as a body fell on top of him, knocking all air out of lungs once again. 

 

Despite, struggling to take in a breath all over again, Peter was quick and ready to defend himself. He turned around onto his back and was ready to flip the person over when he immediately recognized the face looking down at him. “Mr. Stark?” He wheezed, relaxing underneath him. 

 

Tony’s eyes were wide. “Kid? I told you to haul ass.”

 

“Did you really think I was going to leave you in there? We go in and come out together.” He looked at Tony’s body, still without his suit. “You didn’t find where they stashed our stuff?”

 

Wincing, Tony answered, “I was kinda busy running from rapid dogs. So, no.” He slowly got to his feet and held out a hand for Peter to grab. Peter took his hand and let the older man haul him to his feet. He didn’t miss how Tony’s face pinched painfully. 

 

“You okay?” He asked, hesitantly, afraid of the answer. 

 

Tony nodded his head quickly. “I’m fine, just twisted my ankle while running. I’m good.”

 

Peter wanted to call him out on the obvious lie, but he didn’t look to be in any serious danger, so he figured the arguing could wait until they were safe from this place. “Okay...you wanna start getting out of here?”

 

“Yeah, without the suits, we’ve got no contact with Rhodey. That means we’ve got to get to the rendezvous point and then send back-up here and storm the place. I remember the layout enough to help us out when we go back in-- we being me and backup, not you,” he explained. 

 

“Oh, come on, Mr. Stark. I’ll be fine. You let me join this time.” Peter complained, hating to be treated like a baby when he already went on the dangerous part of the mission and was more or less fine. 

 

“Because we didn’t expect  _ this,  _ Underoos. There was no plan for engaging the enemy; we were to sneak in, hack into their mainframe, download everything we could on their operations and then skedaddle.” Tony grabbed his elbow and started tugging him away from the warehouse. 

 

“I was fine though. I’m going to be going on missions soon anyway; you can’t always hold me back because you’re scared I’ll get hurt.” Peter kept up with him as they ran to the wooded area where they wouldn’t be seen through the trees, hopefully. 

 

“You’re not fine,” he paused to look Peter over. “There’s a scrape on your cheek and glass in your hair, so I’m assuming you threw yourself out of a window, which I don’t even want to think about so please do not confirm that statement. We’ve still got Hell Hounds chasing after us, probably, so that’s great.”

 

“Well, at least we’re downwind of the dogs.” 

 

“What?”

 

“The scent won’t carry as easily to them when we’re downwind,” Peter said, looking through the woods. “We need to find a river or something and walk through it.” 

 

“How the hell do you know how to evade your scent being picked up by a dog?” Tony questioned. 

 

“I watched a lot of crime shows with Ben and was curious to see how it happened.” Peter shrugged his shoulders.”Oh-- we also need to pee on three different trees making a triangular pattern. 

 

Tony blinked. 

 

“Not  _ peeing  _ in a triangular shape, but the trees we choose should be in a triangular pattern with one another.” 

 

“Peter, what the fuck?” He asked, giving him a strange look. 

 

“Is that a no?” 

 

“Unless you want to volunteer for that job, it's a no,” Tony confirmed. 

 

“Fine, but when the dogs come, I get to say I told you so.” Peter said with a smirk trying to lighten the mood. He wasn’t very good at it, but it was usually  _ Tony  _ doing the joking to get  _ him  _ to smile, not the other way around, but Tony wasn’t looking too good. He said it was only his ankle, but Peter knew he was lying. He just didn’t know  _ what  _ was wrong. 

 

But as they continued to walk, it grew more and more obvious something more than a twisted ankle was wrong. Tony tried to continue to hide it, but it wasn't working. 

(Now, Peter knew how Tony felt whenever he tried hiding his own injuries.)

 

“Mr. Stark, we can stop for a quick break or someth--.”

 

“M’fine, kid,” he mumbled between clenched teeth. “Let’s just get to Rhodey before the dogs get to us.”

 

It had been almost twenty minutes with no sign of them, so Peter assumed they had lost them or they never bothered to run and search for them. But, he wasn’t going to test it. It was easier to just not look back. 

 

“But, if you need a break, I think we can stop for a sec. I can try and wrap up your ankle to make it hurt just a little bit less.” Peter looked down at his ankles, but couldn't tell which was the injured one; there was no swelling or limping. 

 

“Parker, seriously: don’t worry,” Tony said ironically because the next moment, he was stumbling towards the nearest tree for support. 

 

“Mr. Stark!” Peter hurried to his side, hold his arm to keep him from tipping over. His wide eyes looked over Tony’s body, trying to find the source of his sudden fall. 

 

Tony’s eyes were squeezed shut and his pale face was pinched in pain. “I’m fine, Pete--.” He cut himself off with a loud gasp and wrapped his arm around his stomach. “Fuck.” 

 

Peter helped lower him to the ground, leaning against the tree. Tony tipped his head back with a thud on the trunk. Peter licked his lips, unsure of what he should do next. “Mr. Stark, is...were you hurt?”

 

“Don’t wor--.”

 

Peter narrowed his eyes, frustrated at how stubborn he was being. “We’re out here together. The only way we’re going to be able to make it out safe and alive is  _ together.  _ But we can’t do anything together if you’re trying to hide injuries from me.” 

 

Tony let his eyes flutter open, chuckling. “Pot, meet Kettle.” 

 

_ “Tony.”  _ The first name. Peter hardly ever used his first name. That meant he was serious and Tony knew that. 

 

He sighed and unzipped his undersuit jacket. He peeled it away slowly with a hiss. Underneath, was three lines slashed through his t-shirt, staining it red with blood. Peter gasped and fell to his knees beside Tony. He picked up the hem to the t-shirt and lifted it up, inspecting the wound it was trying to hide. Tony hissed in pain. “Ouch.”

 

“Sorry,” Peter said, looking at it closer. It didn’t look infected and it wasn’t that deep, but that’s not what worried Peter. It was the black lines under the skin extending from the wound. Like dark veins. “What the hell?”

 

“It, uh, may have been from a dog-- and these freaks have messed around with them so their claws are poisonous…” Tony explained slowly. 

 

It took longer than it should have for Peter to comprehend what Tony just told him.  _ “Poisonous?  _ You weren’t going to tell me you were poisoned?”

 

Tony winced, sitting up straight again. “There’s nothing we can do about it right now, Pete. I didn’t want to worry you any more than you should be.” He started to stand up, using the tree trunk as a crutch. 

 

Peter held onto his elbow, helping to keep him steady. “You can’t just hide this-- what are we going to do? Does it hurt? Are you going to d--?” He stopped short, unable to finish  _ that  _ thought because there was no way Tony could die. Peter refused to let him. 

 

“Hey, kiddo, calm down,” Tony said. “We’ll meet Rhodey soon and I’ll be fine. Cho and Bruce can think of something using their combined brains to undo this.” 

 

Peter wasn’t convinced. 

 

“C’mon, Pete. They’re not even Hydra. They’re  _ wannabes _ . You think they can make something work effectively and efficiently? I doubt it.” He laughed, pulling his arm away from Peter. He didn’t want to seem weak in front of him. 

 

“Doesn’t make it any less dangerous,” Peter argued, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

Tony smiled, trying so hard to get Peter to believe everything was  _ alright.  _ “You’re hanging out with Cap too much.”

 

Peter rolled his eyes. “And you complain about  _ me  _ giving  _ you  _ heart problems? You’re just as stressful as I am, if not more.” 

 

His mentor raised his eyebrows and repeated, “More than you?” He scoffed. “I highly doubt that one. You’re hell on feet. Hell in a pair of spandex?” He started thinking about the correct choice of words, so desperately trying to distract Peter from the fact that Tony was  _ poisoned.  _

 

“Just...take it easy,” Peter said, softly. “I know Colonel Rhodes isn’t too far, but just...we don’t know what’s gonna happen with that stuff.” 

 

“I’m fine, Peter. I promise.” 

 

Peter decided to believe him. Partly because he wished it to be true and partly because Tony never broke his promises. 

 

Until today. 

  
  


10 short minutes after they started walking again--  _ after he promised he’d be fine,  _ he collapsed. One second, he was talking to Peter about the path they needed to follow back to the safety cabin-- “ _ Really, did Rhodey really have to make it in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere?”--  _ and the next second, he was a heap on the ground. 

 

Peter fell on his knees, rolling Tony over by his shoulder so he was laying on his back. “Mr. Stark!” Tony’s eyes were shut and he wasn’t responding to Peter’s shaking. “Mr. Stark, get up!” Nothing. He checked on the cuts on his stomach, but it didn’t look too much worse than before. But, still Tony wasn’t waking up. “Tony!” Peter shook his shoulder harder, feeling his eyes burn. “Please,” he said, voice cracking. 

 

Before the first tear could fall, Tony’s eyes were blinking awake. He turned his still unfocused eyes up at Peter. He may have still been out of it, but he wasn’t gone enough to not notice Peter panicking. “H-hey, buddy, what’s wrong?”

 

“What’s wrong?” Peter repeated incredulously. “Oh, nothing. Except for the fact you just  _ passed out.  _ Like walking fine one second and the next you were just--.” Peter stopped himself short, unable to finish his sentence because the image of Tony dropping to the ground made him sick. 

 

Tony was quick to try and push himself up. “Don’t worry,” he mumbled. “‘M fine.” 

 

Peter rolled his eyes. “You’re obviously  _ not  _ fine.” He wrapped an arm around Tony and helped lift him up. Tony tried to pull away, but he’s not strong enough. Peter didn’t even have to use his super-strength. The poison was weakening him enough. 

 

“Kid, I’m fine,” Tony insisted, but once he was standing, he didn’t try to move from Peter’s hold. 

 

“Just let me help you, okay?” Peter said in a small voice. “You don’t need to act so strong all the time.” Tony didn’t seem convinced. “Remember when I shattered my collarbone? I wasn’t even Spider-Man-ing. I was just being an idiot.” 

 

“You were building a treehouse for Cassie. Hardly call that being an idiot,” Tony said, but his voice was weak and wobbly. 

 

“I fell out of a tree. How does Spider-Man fall out of a tree?” He shook his head and let out a shaky breath, both at the memory of the pain and at the fear of just how bad Tony of a shape was in. “It hurt like  _ hell _ . And I didn’t want to cry. Especially, not in front of you. But you held me and said,  _ ‘Kid, it’s okay to cry. Doesn’t make you any less strong.’ _ ”

 

“I don’t sound like that,” Tony mumbled, failing to hide a wince as they continued to walk. 

 

“Don’t mock my Tony Stark impressions-- just...it’s okay to not be okay. Sometimes you need help.” Peter watched Tony’s face, waiting for him to finally break and give in. But, he didn’t. 

 

“Pete, don’t worry about me. We’re going to get to Rhodey and it’s going to be fine. We’ve got tech that can find the antidote to any poison.” Tony stumbled again but didn’t pass out. 

 

“Mr. Stark!” Peter shouted as he stumbled with him, desperate to keep him up. 

 

“No need to yell, Underoos. I’m okay.” 

 

Peter huffed angrily. He was tired of Tony acting like everything was  _ okay  _ when it so obviously wasn’t. It was just them; he didn’t have to  _ hide.  _ He needed to be honest with Peter so he could help him. “Please stop saying that. This is  _ not  _ okay. The mission was botched, our team has no idea we’re in trouble, we don’t have our suits, this safe house is far, you were hurt  _ and poisoned,  _ you’re fainting, you can’t walk, and--.”

 

“Woah, woah, slow down there, bubs,” Tony said. “Let’s focus on the positives, alright? We’re going to get the suits back--Karen and FRIDAY won’t activate them unless it’s us in there, Rhodey is still waiting for us and we’ll be there soon, I’m still up and walking, we’re going to get out of this, and we’re together.” 

 

_ Together.  _

Peter was thankful for that. There had been more than a few times that he was in trouble and he just wished for Tony to be by his side. 

 

“You’re right.” 

 

“I always am,” Tony said and Peter scoffed. “What?”

 

“You’re not okay. We both know that,” he said softly. “So, can you just...let me help you?”

 

Tony only hesitated a moment. “Fine.” 

 

“Thank you.”

  
  


The reassurance that everything was going to be okay didn’t last long. Tony kept stumbling as they continued their walk and by the sixth fall in only twenty minutes, he wasn’t getting back up. His eyes stayed shut as he laid in the dirt, unmoving. Somehow, Peter knew Tony wasn’t going to wake up this time. 

 

He very carefully put his arms under Tony’s knees and his back to lift him in a bridal carry. He made sure that Tony’s head lolled toward his chest so he was supported, but his arm hung limp. To any other teenager, lifting a full grown man would have been near impossible, but Peter’s got his spider strength to thank. Even though, he would lift Tony without it. Nothing would stop Peter from keeping him safe. 

 

“Don’t worry, Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered softly, making sure Tony was secure in his arms before he started walking again. “I’ve got you. Just hold on tight, okay?” His voice was starting to break, but he didn’t bother trying to hold back any tears because Tony wasn’t conscious. He was alone. 

 

Peter looked around the wooded area and saw nothing but trees surrounded him. He knew the path that he needed to follow to find his way back to Rhodey, but it was getting dark and he didn’t like the eerie feeling he was getting. Especially since he was so...alone. 

 

“The sun’s setting,” Peter said, already feeling the chilled winds blow. “It’s gonna be dark soon and I’m a little cold.” He shivered; he really needed to wear more than just boxers and a t-shirt under his suit. Tony had a jacket on over the shirt he was wearing, but then Tony would be left in short sleeves and Peter didn’t want that. 

 

He continued down the path, his grip on Tony never wavering. After a few minutes of walking, he stumbled slightly, but he only held tighter to Tony. “I’ve got you,” he said, “I won’t let you fall.” It was a promise he intended to keep no matter what, but as the times passed, it grew harder and harder to do. 

 

He had his strength, but he hadn’t eaten in hours and his muscles were sore and his body was cold. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to make it without a break. His arms were shaking and Tony just seemed to be getting heavier. But he was afraid if he stopped moving, he wouldn’t get back up.

 

Ironically, just as he was debating on whether to take a break at the next big tree, fate decided for him. He didn’t even recognize the pain at first, for a brief moment, he was okay. A second later he wasn’t. The pain was so intense, he fell to the ground, Tony falling from his arms as he hit the ground. He still didn’t stir. 

 

Peter couldn’t focus on getting Tony, not yet. His eyes, already burning with tears, looked down at his foot where the pain was coming from. Even in the dusk, he could see the metal trap around his foot, blood already flowing. He couldn’t choke back a scream; how the hell was he supposed to when his foot was stuck in an animal trap? It hurt. Holy  _ fuck,  _ it hurt. He gave into his first instinct and called out to the person that was always able to make the pain go away. “Mr. Stark!” He choked on a sob, squeezing his eyes shut. “P-Please!” 

 

But he didn’t come. There were no callused hands holding him, brushing his hair, wiping the tears from his cheeks. Tony wasn’t softly reassuring him that it was all going to be okay. 

 

Peter let his eyes open and he looked on the ground just a foot away. He was right there. He could reach out and his fingers could just brush over Tony’s arm. He wanted to grab him and shake him awake to help him. Save him.  _ Get him out.  _

 

But he didn’t. He blinked back his tears and looked around him until he found a large stick. He grabbed it and looked back down at his foot, gagging at the sight. He was glad it was getting dark enough that he wouldn’t have to look at it for much longer. Without a second thought, he jammed the stick into the trap to find the trigger to unlock it. He didn’t hit it right away; at one point, he made it worse and he let out a loud scream that only made Tony groan. He tried one more time, thankfully, hitting the spot and the trap came undone. 

 

He let out a shaky sob of relief and fell backward, beads of sweat pouring down his face. The pain was nowhere near gone, but it was less intense. It was easier to handle. He tried to control his breathing and get it steady again, but it was so hard. All he could hear were his pants and sobs, loud in the otherwise silent woods. 

 

He knew he had to get up-- the screaming would definitely alert the soldiers and dogs if they were still looking-- Peter hoped they weren’t. He had no idea if he’d be able to get away from them now. He had no idea how he was going to even get up and carry Tony.  He didn’t know how he would, but he did know he was going to. 

 

After he had spent a few long moments trying to calm himself down, he rolled over and started crawling toward Tony. He let his bad foot drag and he made his way over. “Mr. Stark,” he mumbled,  shaking his shoulder. “You gotta get up. Please get up.” 

 

Tony let out a small moan, but his eyes stayed shut.  

 

“Mr. Stark--.” Peter went still when the hairs on his arms stood up.  _ Something was coming. _ He looked around them, trying to find anything that could be setting it off. Maybe it was nothing at all but a small animal close by.  

 

Those hopes were crushed when Peter heard the barking. They were still over a mile away, but they were coming. Peter's screams probably have away their position and it didn't help they had the scent of blood to follow now. 

 

He didn't have time to waste. He got up on his knees and scooped Tony up in his arms. It was much harder this time around. He seemed to be almost a hundred pounds heavier. 

 

The real challenge didn't come until Peter tried putting weight on his foot. He let out a strangled cry and fell forward; this time Tony didn't leave his arms. “Please, Tony,” he begged. “Please get up. I don't know what to do.”

 

He didn't know how far he was from their safety-- he just knew he'd come across it if he followed the path. And he didn't know if he was going to be able to get away from the attack dogs-- not when he could barely walk and Tony was unconscious. 

 

Walking on his feet would be too impossible to manage. The pain was indescribable when he only put some of his weight on it for a few seconds. Who knew how much more it would hurt for him to be carrying Tony. So, he went on his knees as he continued. 

 

The ground was rough on his knees, but the pain was much more welcomed than his foot. It still hurt even when there was no weight on it. It burned and screamed in agony. He wasn't even sure he could move his toes...he was too afraid to try. 

 

The tears were a steady stream down his face; some rolled off his chin and landed on Tony. Usually, Tony could tell when Peter needed help-- even before Peter knew. He could catch a tear from his eye before it fell. 

But not now. 

  
  


The walking on his knees wasn’t enough. Soon, he heard the feet of soldiers behind him. Much closer. Close enough to find them if Peter didn’t do something. There was no way he could get away from them on his knees and there definitely was no way that Peter would be able to put weight on his foot. He looked around desperately for anything. He didn’t think he could climb any of the trees, not with Tony unconscious and only one good foot. 

 

His eyes caught sight of a fallen tree and he thought just maybe he could work with it. He hurried to the log, straying from the path only to hide until they were gone. He stumbled towards the tree and lowered Tony to the ground carefully. “Sorry, Mr. Stark, I just have to put you down for a moment.” 

Tony didn’t respond. 

 

Without another moment of hesitation, Peter turned to the log and lifted it up from the ground, relieved to see a small ditch in the ground from the indent of the tree. If they squeezed, he and Tony could hide in there without being seen. He glanced behind him at Tony to make sure he was okay before fixing the log so it was laid diagonal over the ditch so it was covering the spot while they could still fit. 

 

He turned back to Tony and carefully scooped him into his arms, hushing him gently even though Tony made no sound of even acknowledging being moved. Carefully, he settled him back into the hole, making sure he didn’t hit his head on the ground. “You’re okay, Mr. Stark,” he reassured him. “You’re okay.”

 

The sounds of crunching leaves were closer now. Peter had to hurry. He quickly crawled in with Tony, tucking himself against his chest. It hurt to be in this position without a strong arm wrapped around his back and a hand in his hair. Tony always held him close...Peter picked up his arm to wrap around his back, but it was too lax. 

 

Maybe it was the unbearable pain in his foot. Maybe it was the tingling in his neck telling him something bad was coming. Maybe it was the fact that Tony wasn’t hugging him back. Maybe it was everything combined. Whatever it was, Peter broke. He started shaking as sobs escaped. “Please wake up. Please, please,  _ please _ wake up.” Tony didn’t move. “Please don’t leave me, Mr. Stark.”

 

Peter wanted to cry more when Tony let out a groan. He pulled his head up and he looked down at him. “Mr. Stark?”

 

“Pe’er,” he mumbled, his eyes still shut. 

 

“Yes! It’s me,  _ Peter _ . Mr. Sta--.” Before he could finish, he heard voices only a few yards away. He snapped his mouth shut, his eyes widening. 

 

“Are they here? Do you see anything?” A gruff voice asked. 

 

“Dunno. The mutt seems to think so,” another replied.

 

Tony chose that moment to groan again. “Pe’er, you ‘kay--?”

 

Peter covered Tony’s mouth with his sweaty hand. “Shh, Mr. Stark, please-- shhh.” He tried to make another noise, his eyes fluttering, but Peter didn’t move his hand. 

 

The steps came closer and Peter’s head was pounding because  _ danger.  _ He stuck his face into Tony’s neck and felt the arm around him tighten slightly. He couldn’t help the whimper that was muffled in Tony’s neck. 

 

Peter heard the low growling from the dog coming closer. Peter grew more frightened as it came closer. All he could think about was one of the men grabbing him by the foot and dragging him out of the hole. He should have hidden in a different spot than Tony, so at least he was safe if the dog smelt the blood on his foot. 

 

His heart practically stopped when he heard the dog stop and start to bark by the log. Peter’s stomach rolled with anxiety. They were trapped. There was no escape. They were going to be found and there was nothing Peter could do. Usually, in situations like this, Tony always had an idea. Peter relied on him. But now...now it was up to Peter. And he wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he did know that whatever it was, he was going to make sure Tony got out of this safe. 

 

He could run and catch their attention-- 

His thoughts stopped immediately the moment that the log above them shifted and landed on his bad foot. Peter gasped and quickly bit down on his fist to keep his shout contained. His other hand was digging into his thigh to try and overcome the pain in his foot. 

 

“There’s nothing there, idiot,” a man muttered, presumably to the dog. He must have been leaning on the log because the weight was pining his foot between the log and the ground. The tears were leaking from his eyes like a broken pipe and they weren’t going to stop. He could barely control his breathing. It wasn’t going to be long before he cried out in pain. It was too much to stand-- God, it felt like his foot was being torn off. The only thing keeping him from crying out was if he did, then they knew exactly where to find Tony and Tony couldn’t protect himself right now. 

 

So, he bit down hard enough on his fist he was drawing blood until the log lifted off his foot and the feet started to leave. “They ain’t here. These stupid mutts are idiots. Tell the boss we need to fix the wiring in their brains. Stupid ass noses don’t work for shit.”

 

He waited an extra 15 minutes after the voices and feet were gone before removing his fist from his mouth. He rested his forehead against Tony’s shoulder and let out his sobs. “It hurts, Mr. Stark.  _ It hurts.”  _

 

Tony was always able to make him feel better. 

 

He felt like a child begging, “Make it go away, Mr. Stark. Please. Make it  _ stop _ .”

 

Tony was out cold again. He didn’t say a word. 

  
  


Peter stayed there for what felt like hours. He knew his foot wasn’t going to feel any better-- waiting here wasn’t going to do anything but lessen Tony’s chances of getting help. He was relying on Peter to get him to Rhodey. 

 

He lifted the log off of their hole and shoved it to the side. He crawled out slowly, minding his foot and then pulled Tony into a tight hug to pull him out. “I’m gonna get you safe. Don’t worry. It’s all going to be okay.”

 

Carefully, he brought him over to the nearest tree and leaned Tony against it. It was dark by now and Peter could barely see Tony’s face in front of him. Maybe he was grateful so he could imagine him as the strong and brave man he knew, not the pale and sweaty face he knew was there. 

 

Peter put a hand on Tony’s cheek and leaned close to him until his forehead was leaning against his shoulder. He let himself cry some more into Tony’s shoulder, wishing he was awake to console him and tell him it was all going to be okay. 

 

His wishes seemed to be granted only a moment later when he heard him groan again. This time, Peter didn’t have to shush him. He snapped his head up and said, “Mr. Stark!”

 

Tony finally let his eyes flutter open, as he looked at Peter. “Peter? Is that you?”

 

Nodding, Peter said, “Yes! It’s me, Mr. Stark. I was worried that you weren’t going to wake up.” Peter should have known something was wrong the moment he didn’t assure Peter he was  _ fine.  _

 

“Kid, I need to tell you somethin’,” he mumbled, his voice slurred. 

 

“Of course,” Peter said, “anything.”

 

“I think…” Tony trailed off and didn’t continue until Peter shook his shoulder. “I don’t think I’m gonna make it, buddy.” 

 

Peter felt like the log was dropped on him again-- this time on his heart. “What are you talking about, Mr. Stark? You’re okay. It’s gonna be okay. We’re going to get you to Colonel Rhodes. It’s gonna be okay.”

 

“I don’t...it’s okay, kiddo. It’s not your fault. Everybody’s got an expiration date. Seems mine is here.” 

 

Peter’s breathing was rapid and shallow. He felt like he needed to reach out for his inhaler as he did before the spider bite. “Mr. Stark, what…” He swallowed thickly. “What are you talking about?”

 

Tony smiled. A smile that Peter had never seen before on the man. He didn’t like it. “You’re a good kid-- no, you’re a great kid. A really  _ really  _ good kid. The best. Have I told you that before? I’m sorry if I haven’t.”

 

“Please stop.”

 

“No, I can’t.” He brought up a shaking hand to ruffle Peter’s hair. It felt all wrong. “I need you to know how much you mean to me and that you really are the best kid in the world. You’re gonna grow into an even better man. Only wish I could see it.”

 

Peter felt tears continue to pour, for an entirely different reason than his foot. “Please, Mr. Stark. Stop-- you’re not going anywhere. You’re okay. You’re not going to...you’re not going to die…” he whispered, letting his eyes shut. 

 

“Hey, Pete, can you do me a favor?” Tony asked, his voice low. 

 

Peter sniffled. “Yeah?”

 

“C’mere,” he said, tugging on Peter’s wrist. 

 

Peter let himself be pulled into Tony’s arms and he curled against his chest. He pressed his ear against his chest to listen to the steady beat of his heartbeat. He ignored the part of his mind that was telling him it may be the last time he got the chance to. 

 

“If this is it and it’s Tony Stark’s time to bit the bullet--.”

 

“Please don’t say that, Mr. Stark. I can’t lose you too.” 

 

“I’m trying to be sentimental here, bud. Shh.” He rubbed his back before continuing, “If this is it, I want to hold you one more time. Just...let me hold you.” He clung to him tightly, squeezing him tight against his chest. 

 

Peter cried into Tony’s shoulder, wishing for a moment that he was poisoned too. He didn’t want to live without Tony there. He couldn’t. He was tired of losing people. But, so was May...and he couldn’t make her go through losing someone else. 

 

“You can’t leave me,” Peter begged. “You’re not allowed. I won’t let you. You can’t. Please don’t go.” 

 

“Thank you, Peter.”

 

“Don’t thank me. Don’t  _ leave _ .” 

 

“I want you to know something.” He pulled Peter even closer. “Pete, I l--.” 

 

He stopped short before he was able to finish his sentence. Peter knew exactly what he was going to say and Tony really was delirious out of his mind if he was about to tell Peter he loved him… but he had more important things to worry about. LIke the fact that Tony was out cold again, his head leaning on Peter. 

 

Peter pulled back and started to shake Tony’s shoulder. “Mr. Stark, please. Get up. Get up, please! You can’t do this. You can’t leave me. You can’t leave Rhodey.” Peter laughed humorlessly. “You know him He’s gonna be really pissed if you try to die on him. He’ll bring you back just to kill you again. And I may help him.” 

 

Nothing. 

 

“If you’re not scared of Colonel Rhodes and me, then you better be scared of Aunt May. I’m gonna tell her you made me cry. Look--  _ I’m crying _ . You hurt me. You have to wake up and make it better. You always make it better.” His voice cracked. “Please.”

 

Tony was always able to make him feel better. No matter what was wrong, he was able to pick up all the pieces and put it back together for Peter. But...maybe it was Peter’s turn to make everything better. Tony was always the one to fix it, but maybe now it was Peter’s turn to make things better for Tony. 

 

He sat up straight and set his face in a determined stare. “I’m going to get you to Rhodey. He’s going to fi--.” Peter shook his head. “No,  _ I’m  _ going to fix this.” He lifted Tony in his arms again and slowly stood up. He was on his knees, but he knew he’d never make it in time on his knees. Tony didn’t have time for Peter to whine. 

 

So, he stood up on his feet, only crying out once when his foot bared half his weight. It was brutal and one of the worst pain he’d ever felt. But, it was nothing compared to the pain of losing Tony. So, he’d suffer through it. 

 

He started slow, crying with each step and wanting nothing more than to fall down and just give up. But, he couldn’t. Not with Tony’s life at stake.

  
  


He walked and walked until he finally found the small cabin at the end of the path. He was so close. “I told you, Mr. Stark. I told you I was gonna get you here.” He hurried his walk to as close as he could get to a run with his foot. All he needed to do was get Tony to safety. 

 

Once he was in front of the cabin, he shoved open the door and was never more relieved to see Colonel Rhodes and Sam sitting at a small table. He could only imagine what he looked like, covered in mud and blood, his tears probably made distinct tracks on his cheeks, and holding a just as dirty and bloody unconscious Tony. 

 

He halted in the doorway falling to his knees. “Save Mr. Stark,” was all he could say before his eyes were rolling to the back of his head and everything went dark. 

 

\--- 

 

Peter woke up again to someone calling his name. A certain someone that he heard saying goodbye to him the last time he spoke. He wanted to sleep for years more, but he couldn’t ignore that voice. He needed to see that he was okay. 

 

He blinked open his eyes and turned his head, seeing Tony laying in a hospital bed next to him. The room around him looked familiar; it was the medbay in the tower. “Mr. Stark?”

 

Tony gave him a small smile. “Yeah, kiddo.” 

 

Peter didn’t hesitate before he was stumbling out of his bed. He fell with a cry when he put all his weight down on his foot again. 

 

_ “Peter _ ,” Tony gasped, sitting up in his bed. “What are you doing, idiot? Your foot is--.” 

 

Before he could finish, Peter silenced him by jumping into his bed. He only pulled back when he heard Tony wince. “I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?”

 

Tony shook his head. “You’re fine, buddy. I’m worried about you. That foot does not look good. Cho told me to tell you to keep off of it and you’re already breaking the rule--.” 

 

“Please be quiet for a minute.  _ Please _ .” Peter hid his face in Tony’s neck and this time, that strong arm wrapped around him to pull him close. Peter let the dam break again. “I thought-- I thought you were--.”

 

“Shh, Pete,” Tony whispered soothingly. “I’m okay. Don’t worry.” He used the hand not holding him to run his fingers through his hair. 

 

Peter pulled back, sniffling with a glare. “ _ Okay? Don’t worry?  _ Mr. Stark, I thought you were going to  _ die.  _ You told me you were dying!” 

 

Tony winced. “I don’t...I’m sorry, kid. I was hoping that was a fever dream from the poison.” He looked pained. “I’m sorry. I really am sorry. I should have never said any of that to you.” 

 

He let out a shaky breath, holding on tighter to Tony. “Please never do that again. Please don’t  _ ever  _ make me go through that again. I won’t forgive you. I won’t. Never.” 

 

“Peter, I won’t. I promise.” He pulled Peter back against his chest and Peter held onto him like the devil himself was about to drag him away. Tony held him back even tighter. “I’m sorry I made you go through that alone.”

 

Peter just laid against Tony without saying a word. He didn’t want to do anything but sit with Tony for the rest of his life. He had him back and he wasn’t going to let go. Tony continued to pull at his curls softly and rub small circles on his back. 

 

A few moments later, Tony spoke softly, “How’s your foot, Pete?”

 

“S’okay,” Peter answered with closed eyes. He didn’t want to remember the pain in his foot. He could just take a nap here and forget it all happened. 

 

They were quiet for a few moments while Tony pulled at a knot until it came undone in his fingers. Then he went back to carding his fingers through his curls. “And I heard you saved the day.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Rhodey and Sam told me all about how you came barging in with me in your arms on a foot that was agonizing to even look at, let alone walk on with your and my weight. Only reason they knew to go back there and get me help.” 

 

Peter wiped his nose on Tony’s shirt and felt the man’s chuckle hum through his chest. “I just wanted to help you. LIke you always help me.” 

 

“Thank you for saving my life, Pete,” Tony whispered. 

 

Looking up at him, Peter asked, “You wanna know how you can thank me?”

 

Tony rolled his eyes with a smile. “By never pulling a stunt like that again?”

 

“By finishing what you were going to tell me before you passed out before,” Peter said in a small voice. 

 

“I don’t remember what I was going to say,” he said, a bit too quickly. 

 

Peter narrowed his eyes, but there wasn’t much heat behind it. “You know, you’re alive and well now. But, you still made me cry. I can go tell May right now if you’d like.” 

 

Tony laughed and Peter felt his lip quirk in a small grin when he felt his chest rumble against him. “Alright, alright, you got me, bud.” 

 

“So?”

 

Tony sighed heavily, acting put out by the request. “Okay, okay, kiddo.” He lowered his lips to Peter, kissing the top of his head. Before pulling away, he whispered, “I love you, Peter.”

 

Peter felt his eyes burn again but not because of pain or fear. “I love you too, Mr. Stark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't it's finally all wrapped up. I started this before Infinity War happened because I just really love clingy peter and wow....we really got peter clinging to tony, huh? I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for reading!


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